1. According to official statistics, Israel imports 40% of the total crude oil exports of the Republic of Azerbaijan; unofficial figures put the amount at 50%. By selling oil to Israel and providing fuel to the regime, the Republic of Azerbaijan keeps Tel Aviv's war engine running against the Muslim and innocent people of Palestine. In fact, after the United States, the government in Baku is the main partner in the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people.
2. At the current stage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is in a very fragile position in the occupied territories and has suffered a severe defeat in the military arena in the face of the Palestinian people. Creating an opportunity for this regime to come out of isolation by the Republic of Azerbaijan is an action against the Palestinian people and the interests of Muslims. In other words, at a time when some Arab countries, which had the motivation to normalize relations with Israel, chose to exercise caution and stop the process of normalization, the Republic of Azerbaijan is disregarding the Islamic world and the Palestinian people by strengthening ties with Israel.
3. Baku's anti-Palestinian stance and its relations with Israel, especially the opening of the Azerbaijan Embassy in Tel Aviv, sparked a wave of protests, anger and dissatisfaction among Palestinian groups and people, politicians, as well as the public in Arab and Muslim countries. The measure has also been widely condemned by Palestine’s Fatah Party as well as resistance movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with some Palestinian leaders calling it a "betrayal of the cause of the Palestinian freedom."
4. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as the second intergovernmental organization after the United Nations, which has 57 member states, should not remain indifferent to such measures by the Republic of Azerbaijan. The reason behind the establishment of the OIC on September 25, 1969 was to protest against Israel’s desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the support for the Palestinian cause and confronting Israeli crimes being put on the organization's agenda later on. It is of Islamic interests and confronting destructive factors including the Zionist regime. Heads of Islamic countries, in the final statement of their 14th meeting dubbed "Mecca meeting: hand in hand towards the future" on May 31, 2019, emphasized the centrality of the issue of Palestine and Al-Quds and an all-out support for the Palestinian people. The Republic of Azerbaijan, as a member of the OIC, has acted against the organization’s resolutions by selling oil to Israel and trying to get this regime out of isolation. As such, it should be dealt with logically and legally.
5. At this point, in order to support the Palestinian people and their resistance against the Israeli regime, Muslim countries should ask the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to consider the issue of ending or suspending Azerbaijan’s membership due to its complicity in crimes by the Zionist regime. The Islamic Republic of Iran and resistance groups can be pioneers in achieving this goal.
(The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect those of IRNA)
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