BAKU AND ISLAMIC UNITY

One of the largest international organisations in the world, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was founded exactly 53 years ago in Rabat, Morocco. Represented by all Muslim countries, it spans from Indonesia to Nigeria. Through its various commissions and subordinate groups, the OIC tries to promote multi-disciplinary cooperation and rapprochement between the Muslim countries. Since 1975, the organisation has worked closely with the UN in observer status. Over the years the OIC has made significant progress in strengthening cooperation among its member states in various fields, including the Islamic Solidarity Games, science, art, education, culture and politics. As with any other organisation, not everything has gone smooth during these years though.

Muslims in search of unity

With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the Caliphate in the early twentieth century, the Muslim world was deprived of a single centre of governance, hence facing new challenges. The newly independent states, mostly semi-colonial, tried to do something to ensure the unity of the Islamic world, in particular to resolve the Palestinian conflict. But the Jerusalem conferences held in the 1920s and 1930s failed to create an organisation that would ensure joint action by Muslims.

Although the rise of independent Muslim countries after the Second World War, the deepening of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the establishment of the State of Israel brought the ideas of Islamic unity on agenda, they all proved futile mid the increasing leftist and nationalist ideas, as well as considerable external influence from the West.

The defeat of Egypt—the recognised bastion of Arab nationalism at the time—by Israel in 1967 was a serious blow to the image of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the symbol of left-wing ideas in the Islamic Arab world. The arson of the al-Aqsa mosque by a fanatical Australian Protestant, Denis Rohan, in 1969 sparked a wave of protests in the Muslim world, hence triggering the creation of a united organisation of Islamic states.

About a month after the incident, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was founded at a summit of Muslim heads of state and government held in Rabat on September 22-25. The founding summit was attended by 25 countries and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Later the structure of the organisation was expanded and on June 28, 2011 it was renamed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Now it has 56 member states, except the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), which has been temporarily excluded from the organisation.

Structure and functions of OIC

As the name implies, the OIC is a union of Muslim states. Member states are represented by the respective heads of state and government of Islamic countries. The OIC General Secretariat, the main working body of the organisation, has been in operation since 1971. Currently OIC is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. According to the 1972 Charter of OIC, the organisation fulfills the following functions:

1) Strengthening the unity of Islamic countries, developing multilateral relations and supporting the protection of the freedoms and national rights of all Islamic nations;

(2) Coordination for the protection of Muslim holy sites, and the struggle of the Palestinian people for their rights and the liberation of the occupied Palestinian territories;

3) The elimination of all forms of colonialism and national discrimination, ensuring the conditions for cooperation between OIC members and other states, contributing to the protection of international security and peace.

Under the document, member states are obliged to respect each other's independence and territorial integrity, not to interfere in internal affairs, to resolve any disputes between them by peaceful means, through negotiations, to refrain from any action that violates the territorial integrity and political independence of member states or is directed against any of them or their union.

The organisation has three central bodies: the Conference of Heads of State and Government, the Conference of Foreign Ministers and the Secretariat. The principal organ of the OIC is the Conference of Heads of State and Government held every three years. Its political body is the Conference of Foreign Ministers. Between the main summit the OIC holds the meetings of the Conference of Foreign Ministers, which takes necessary decisions, monitors their implementation, holds discussions on the reports of the Financial Commission and appoints the Secretary General of the organisation and his deputies.

The OIC has established a number of major projects, including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). In addition, the OIC has proposed the idea and model of a common Muslim market thanks to the Islamic Economic Method project. The main objective of the IDB as the main financial body of the OIC is to strengthen socio-economic cooperation among the member states, to fund productive projects, as well as to facilitate foreign trade.

Another OIC institution is the International Islamic Court, which operates on the basis of Sharia law and the OIC Charter. The court includes seven judges elected for a term of four years from candidates proposed by the Conference of OIC Foreign Ministers. The current Secretary General of the organisation is Hussain Brahim Taha.

While the aims and objectives of the OIC were originally focused on the Palestinian question, they have been expanded later overshadowing the original ideas. Over the past half century, the organisation has failed to play any significant role in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, as a kind of interest club for Muslim countries, the OIC has gained influence through its contribution to deepening relations between member countries, as well as mutual international support and assistance in economic issues.

The OIC and Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has been closely cooperating with the OIC for more than thirty years. It was the first Muslim republic of the former Soviet Union to become a member of the organisation in 1991. Further relations with the OIC developed very rapidly. In September 1992, the final document of the traditional coordination meeting of the OIC foreign ministers included an article 'On the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict'.

Subsequently, resolutions adopted at the 8th-10th summits of the OIC Heads of State and Government held in Tehran (1997), Doha (2000) and Putrajaya (2003), as well as the Dakar summit (2008), had the general title "Aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan". Overall, the OIC has adopted dozens of resolutions and documents condemning Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan, as well as calling on international organisations to step up.

Azerbaijan has been an active participant in many events within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Baku has hosted several high-level OIC events, including meetings of the heads of foreign ministries, sports and youth ministers of the organisation. The hosting of the Fourth Islamic Games in Azerbaijan in 2017 strengthened Azerbaijan’s position both within the OIC and in the Muslim world.

In 2018, Nakhchivan was chosen as the Capital of Islamic Culture; it hosted the first international conference with the participation of OIC ministers of culture.

Azerbaijan cooperates closely with various OIC agencies, including the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO), the Islamic Development Bank and the Parliamentary Union of the Islamic Conference.

On November 23, 2006, First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded the title of ICESCO Ambassador for her "wide-scale and selfless activities in various fields, including inter-civilisation dialogue, care for children, great contribution to ICESCO activities in the Islamic world".

Azerbaijani organisation in the OIC

Remarkably, Azerbaijan has succeeded in creating yet another organisation with international status within the OIC. Thus, in December 2004 the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (OIC Youth Forum) was founded in Baku. However, Baku did not limit itself to hosting the creation of the OIC Youth Forum. As a collegiate institution with a chair and leadership elected by the representatives of youth organisations from OIC member states, the Forum is one of the most active movements of the organisation.

Thanks to the Forum, Azerbaijan and Turkey have actually created another working mechanism within the organisation. It helps to maintain close links and conduct serious activities with Muslim countries, especially with their respective youth organisations. Thus, the Justice for Khojaly campaign initiated by Leyla Aliyeva turned into a mass propaganda campaign in many countries of the world, playing a significant role in disseminating truthful information about the tragic events in Khojaly.

Azerbaijan's representative to the OIC, diplomat Elshad Iskandarov, served for four years (2014-2018) as chairman of the OIC YF headquartered in Istanbul.

Conclusion

No country can live in isolation in a globalised world. Even the most closed countries subsequently gain allies and partners within various alliances and organisations, thus benefiting from this cooperation when making political decisions of international significance. As part of the global political and economic system, Azerbaijan, which survived the war and occupation, has always attached great importance to international relations.

As an integral part of the Muslim world, Azerbaijan maintains historical, cultural and political ties with Muslim countries. At the same time, modern international politics requires active cooperation and serious action. Current practical interests also play a significant role in this context. Contrary to popular belief, not all Muslim states are friends of Azerbaijan, particularly those with a very strong Armenian lobby. That is why the Azerbaijani authorities have collaborated purposefully and maintained close political and diplomatic contacts with Muslim countries. As a result, even countries such as Lebanon and Syria, with powerful Armenian diasporas, supported Azerbaijan's position at crucial moments. The success of this endeavour was mainly due to diplomatic work than the religious factor.

Azerbaijan has warm relations with almost all Muslim countries and enjoys great authority in both the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement, which is the second largest international body after the UN. All these achievements are the result of Baku's intense and balanced foreign policy. It is for this reason that the OIC supported and continues to support Azerbaijan's just position both before and during the 44-day war.