OIC SECRETARY-GENERAL SUPPORTS AZERBAIJAN’S RIGHT TO REGAIN OCCUPIED TERRITORY

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 13 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend , corr A.Gasimova / Trend’s exclusive
interview with Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu

Question: What are OIC’s priorities for 2007 and the near future?

Answer: The OIC’s broad priorities for 2007 would be to continue
the process which was started two years ago to promote the role and
the performance of the Organization to be able to cope with the new
international and regional order and to face the many challenges
confronting the Muslim World. I would like to highlight some of the
most important areas which are already being focused upon by the OIC.

These include, first and foremost, the adoption of the new OIC Charter,
which I consider will create a new momentum to the performance and
the effectiveness of the organization in order to serve the collective
interests of its 57 Member States. Another important area would be to
reinforce the political role of the OIC in addressing the many crisis
and challenges which confront its Member States and the Muslim World, a
process which I had started already ever since my assumption of office
in January 2005. I would also especially focus upon reinvigorating
the Solidarity / Assistance Funds which the OIC has established to
fulfill their noble objectives of forging solidarity and assisting
the Muslim people in need.

Another area that I would actively address would be the
institutionalization of the new OIC agenda items like science

Question: How do you assess the co-operation between Azerbaijan and
the OIC and the role of Azerbaijan in the OIC? How do Azerbaijani
activities as OIC’s ICFM Chairman meet the necessary requirements?

Answer: I personally highly appreciate the manner in which
Azerbaijan has conducted itself ever since its assumption of the
ICFM chairmanship. I have been extremely pleased to note that my
sentiments are also fully shared by all OIC Member States. On the
ground, Azerbaijan called for the convening of two Ministerial-level
meetings of the OIC Executive Committee on the questions of Beit
Hanoun and Jerusalem. This clearly demonstrated Azerbaijan’s strong
commitment to OIC causes. Furthermore, Azerbaijan convened in Baku
the 5th OIC Ministerial Conference on Tourism. We are now all looking
forward and grateful to H.E. the President of Azerbaijan’s initiative
of organizing another important and timely conference in Baku on
"The role of the media in promoting understanding and tolerance".

Question: Do you plan to inject any changes into the OIC’s Charter
adopted in 1970 which might have become outdated amid the developments
that have taken place over the last 35 years ? Is there any necessity
to carry out reforms within the OIC?

Answer: This is a very important question and I have already partially
answered this question earlier. I would like to further elaborate
that the new OIC Charter is already in the process of being drafted
and I earnestly hope that it will be adopted very soon by the Member
States. A new OIC Charter is becoming a necessity for more than
one reason. Firstly, this will be an implementation of the 10-year
Programme of Action, which was unanimously adopted by the Third
Extraordinary OIC Summit Conference in Makkah in December 2005.

Secondly, it is true that many major developments have taken place,
both internationally and regionally, and the organization needs
to effectively cope with these developments. As for the reforms,
it is also becoming a necessity for the OIC and is being given
utmost priority. The new Charter is one of this reform process. Other
measures are already underway at many levels, like restructuring the
Secretariat and some of its affiliated institutions as well as their
working methodologies, improving the level coordination between the
Secretariat and its over 20 affiliated institutions, recruitment
of highly qualified staff members, construction of an impressive
headquarters building, new agendas and many other such measures.

Question: Have you set up arrangements for the forthcoming Conference
on Tolerance in the Media, which is being organized in Baku in April?

How relevant do you find this topic?

Answer: This Conference would be an important occasion and, as per
its usual practice, the Secretariat would be extending its full
support to organize a successful event. However, rather focusing
on administrative arrangements, I would like to highlight both the
importance as well as this timely initiative. We all are aware about
the importance of the media in the contemporary age, especially its
influence on formulating the perceptions of the public opinion. We
are now suffering from the alarming phenomena of escalating violence
and terrorism. This is a direct outcome of the intolerance and
misunderstandings. Moreover, it is becoming a growing problem that
the misperception being disseminated through the media about linking
violence and terrorism with Islam. For all these reasons, I find H.E.
the President of Azerbaijan’s initiative to be most timely and would
significantly contribute in correcting this misperception and lead
to greater understanding and tolerance among mankind

Question: When do you plan to convene a regular OIC Summit and what
issues would be included in its agenda?

Answer: According to OIC’s Charter and its rules of procedures, the
next regular Summit Conference was supposed to take place this year
in Senegal. However, upon its request, it has been postponed to March
2008. Malaysia will continue with its responsibilities as the Summit
Chairman until that time. As for the Summit’s agenda, this is the
prerogative of Member States and it is still too early to talk about
it at this stage. The agenda would, generally, include all issues of
mutual interest to the Member States and would encompass all fields.

However, I would like to elaborate that the coming Summit would be
an important one since it will be the first ordinary Summit to be
held after the 3rd Extraordinary Summit of Makkah and also it will be
entrusted the responsibility to endorse and adopt whatever has been
achieved since Makkah. The Summit would also give a new impetus and
momentum to the ongoing process for OIC’s reform.

Question: Despite OSCE’s Minsk Group involvement in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for over 10 years, no results has
been achieved as yet. Do you believe that it is time for another
organization, including the UN, to join the conflict resolution
process?

Answer: I strongly believe that in any conflict situation, it was
imperative to maintain all the ongoing processes of resolving the
conflict, whether on a bilateral or a multilateral level. Because
of the extremely complicated nature of conflicts, like the one in
Nagorno-Karabakh, it needs both time as well as accumulation of
collective efforts until its resolution materializes. Therefore, I
think we need to maintain the OSCE Minsk Group efforts and supplement
them with other efforts by the UN and other international and regional
organizations. I would like to highlight that as an organization
responsible for security and cooperation in Europe, OSCE is most
relevant organization to deal with this conflict.

Question: What could be OIC’s reply to the possible decision of the
Azerbaijani leadership to regain the occupied territory by military
means?

Answer: At the outset, I would like to confirm that I personally and as
the Secretary General of the OIC fully supports the right of Azerbaijan
to regain its occupied territories from Armenia and that the OIC will
continue to work hard, with its Member States and the international
community, to assist in fulfilling this objective. At the same time,
I strongly believe that any conflict should be peacefully resolved
through political and diplomatic means. Military solution is a very
costly and a very dramatic one in terms of loss of lives and damage
to property. In the ultimate analysis, this option is a zero-sum game
and requires that after the cease-fire and the many losses of lives,
the concerned parties to return to the negotiating table for a final
settlement through diplomatic means. I would accordingly suggest
that the Azerbaijani leadership and the OIC as well as all other
international actors to be actively involved in peacefully resolving
the problem.
From: Baghdasarian