Mehr News – The extraordinary Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit on Al-Quds has kicked off in Turkey on Dec. 13, with President Rouhani and leaders of 56 counties in attendance.
During the conference, Iranian President Rouhani will convey the unequivocal support of the people and government of Iran to the people of Palestine in the face of the recent decision by Washington to relocate its embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The conference precedes the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting during which the draft of the final statement of the summit was finalized. Following the summit, the final statement will be issued to declare the unequivocal stance of the OIC against US President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital. The extraordinary summit has been called by the President of Turkey in his capacity as the Chair of the OIC summit.
Most OIC members are expected to attend, including presidents and prime ministers of 20 Islamic countries such as Iran, Palestine, Jordan, Qatar, Pakistan, Kuwait, Indonesia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon, Guinea, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Togo, Oman and Yemen. Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are participating at the summit at the ministerial level, while Saudi Arabia has sent its minister of Islamic affairs to the event.
“Al-Quds is the land of all Muslims, and will remain the capital of Palestinian government,” President Rouhani had said before departing for Turkey. “The improper and illegal decision of US President to announce that the US embassy will be relocated to al-Quds was an insult to Muslims because the land of Palestine and al-Quds does not belong to a specific nation or geographical region.”
President Rouhani went on to stress that al-Quds “belongs to all Muslims of the world and al-Aqsa Mosque was the first Qibla of Muslims.”
