President Ilham Aliyev has received ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of Muslim countries in Azerbaijan on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.
Welcoming the meeting participants, President Ilham Aliyev said:
- A few days later the whole Muslim world will celebrate the holy festival of Ramadan. Our meetings with representatives of the embassies of Muslim countries on the eve of this holiday have become a wonderful tradition.
Please convey my sincere greetings and best wishes to the heads of state and government of the countries you represent.
We have very close cooperation with the countries you represent. Our bilateral relationships are enhancing and expanding. We can say that they cover all areas. A growing number of Muslim countries open their embassies in Azerbaijan every year. I even mentioned during our last year's meeting that a few years later there will be no more room around this table. All this shows that our bilateral relations are really expanding and strengthening, and we are very happy about that.
Azerbaijan also attaches special importance to cooperation with Muslim countries in its foreign policy. We stand by Muslim countries in all international organizations, and this mutual support strengthens us even more.
I should also note that we are deepening our cooperation not only bilaterally but also within the framework of international organizations. We always feel the support of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member-countries.
Mutual support within the United Nations is very important. Last year, Azerbaijan was elected a member of the UN Security Council. Muslim countries played an important part in that election. The support of Azerbaijan by 155 countries at the same time was a manifestation of respect for the Muslim world.
We constantly feel the support of Muslim countries in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. This support is very important to us. As you know, the rules of international law have been grossly breached for many years.
The internationally recognized borders of our country have been violated. Azerbaijanis have been exposed to a policy of genocide. The official recognition of the Khojaly tragedy as an act of genocide also began with the Muslim world. The first country to recognize Khojaly as an act of genocide was Pakistan, and we express our gratitude to the sister country for that.
As you know, the OSCE has sent two fact-finding missions to occupied territories. Their reports openly state that all the buildings, houses, our sacred religious centers have been destroyed by the Armenians. The Armenians have wiped out all Muslim mosques on the occupied territories.
We in Azerbaijan also attach great importance to the strengthening of Islamic solidarity. This is a great need for that, especially at the present time.
We regard the announcement of Baku as the capital of Islamic culture as great support from the Islamic world. The positive assessment on the part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation of the processes taking place in Azerbaijan inspires us even more. Islamic values are dear to us. At the heart of our national values are Islamic values.
Of course, we must strive to ensure that the entire Muslim world is more cohesive, to resolve the problems facing us, so that we can assist and support each other even more in the future. We want to see peace and quiet, no bloodshed and no civil war in all Muslim countries.
Unfortunately, there was civil war in Azerbaijan in the early years of independence. There can be no greater tragedy than that. We must not allow for fraternal blood to be shed.
As you know, Azerbaijan has supported the position of the League of Arab States in connection with the processes in the Middle East from the first days. We continue providing this support. At the same time, we will continue to defend the position of the League of Arab States in the UN Security Council.
I want to reiterate that we made efforts towards further rapprochement with Muslim countries at all times in the years of independence. I believe that today this collaboration is at the highest level. We must continue to support each other, assist each other politically.
We must fight together to respond to the rumors about Islam deliberately disseminated around the world. Attempts to link Islam with terrorism are a great sin and offense. We must work together to wage an even more serious struggle with this. It is Muslim nations that have suffered from terror the most.
Dear Ambassadors, I welcome you again. I want to say again that our cooperation has a great history and a bright future.
I congratulate you and the people you represent on the approaching sacred holiday.
