Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Fifth Extraordinary OIC Summit on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif

Statement  by Sirodjidin Aslov  Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan 

at the Fifth Extraordinary OIC Summit on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif

(Jakarta, 7 March 2016)

Your Excellency President Joko Widodo,

Your Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas,

Your Excellency President Omar al Bashir,

Your Majesties and Excellences Heads of Islamic States and Governments,

Your Excellency Mr. Secretary-General,

Dear colleagues,

AssalamuAlaikumwaRahmatullah-e-waBarakaatu,

It is a great honor for me to deliver this statement on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and express our heartfelt gratitude to His Excellency President Joko Widodo and people of Indonesia for warm hospitality and their excellent arrangements in hosting the Fifth Extraordinary OIC Summit on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif.  It is our sincere hope that todays’ Summit will make a timely and an important contribution to the consolidation and strengthening efforts of Islamic states and international community in the solution of this coreissue for our Ummah.

Brothers and sisters,
Tajikistan supports international and regional efforts aimed at restoring and strengthening peace and stability in the Middle East, including the efforts towards resumption and acceleration ofthe credible negotiations within the Middle East peace process. In our opinion, the path to durable and lasting peace lies only through negotiations. The use of force will not contributetowards this aim, on the contrary, it leads to the escalation of violence and responsesthat would defer the perspectives of peace and stability for all.

The negotiation process must be resumed as soon as possible on the basis of the United Nations resolutions, the Madrid principles and the Arab Peace Initiative, which create wide frameworks for comprehensive, just and lasting solution in the Middle East. We believe that viable peace in the Middle East is possible only on the basis of the two-states solution within the pre-1967 borders. Therefore, a call to convene an international conference for the advancement of this process is timely.

We support efforts of the State of Palestine to join international institutions and treaties, and to obtain full membership at the United Nations. Tajikistan along with other member-states has supported the UNGA resolution 67/19, which has granted Palestine a non-member observer status. We welcome efforts of the State of Palestine at the international level, including its recognition by 136 countries, raising the flag of Palestine at the UN Headquarters and offices and its accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court last year. We are confident that these and other initiatives of the Palestinian Administration under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas will bring the Palestinian people closer to this cherished goal.

At the same time, it should be noted with regretthat in 2014 the UN Security Council was not able to support a draft resolution calling for ending the occupation by 2017 and reaching a negotiated solution within one year. In this connection, we expect that the UN Security Council, which bearsprimary responsibility for the maintenance of the international peace and security, will make additional efforts tocontribute to lasting solution on the question of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

It is necessary, in addition to the measures, aimed at the resumption of the negotiation process, to continue economic assistance to Palestine and to strengthen cooperation for furthering humanitarian support. In this connection, availing myself of this opportunity, I would like to commend the efforts of His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, His Majesty King Abdallah II Ibn Al Hussein and His Majesty King Mohamed VI, Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee. We are convinced that their efforts, as well as the efforts of our distinguished Secretary-General, will make genuine and important contribution to the acceleration of the negotiation process, defending Islamic holy sites and protection of the inalienable rights of our Palestinian sisters and brothers.

In conclusion, I would like to express our sincere hope, that all member-states of the Organization would make every effort to contribute towards realization of the initiatives and proposals, made in the Jakarta Declaration and Resolution on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

I thank you for attention.