Report: Extraordinary Islamic Summit in Istanbul to Protect Souls, Holy Sites

Doha, May 17 (QNA) - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in a sign of the critical situation, will hold its second summit within five months on Friday in Istanbul at the invitation of HE Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan in his capacity as the president of the 13th Islamic summit. The summit will discuss the latest serious developments in the State of Palestine, notably the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the Israeli massacre of unarmed civilians in Gaza Strip, which left 62 Palestinians dead and more than 2,700 injured on Monday after being showered with Israeli live bullets during peaceful protests on the Gaza Strip border over the transfer of the U.S. embassy and the 70th anniversary of Nakba. As it has always been at the forefront of advocates of the Palestinian people and their just cause, the State of Qatar was one of the first countries to receive an invitation to participate in the summit and was consulted in that regard. HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani held via telephone a conversation with HE President Erdogan, during which HE the president invited HH the Amir to participate in the extraordinary Islamic summit, and HH the Amir accepted the invitation. In addition, HE Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani held via telephone a conversation with HE Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. During the telephone conversation, the two sides discussed the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the arrangements of the emergency Islamic summit. The two sides reiterated the need to coordinate efforts between the two countries on this crisis in order to stop the Israeli attacks and protect the Palestinian people. They also stressed that the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem will threaten the region's stability and international peace and security. Meanwhile, the cabinet condemned during its weekly meeting the brutal massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza Strip, renewing its call upon the Security Council to intervene urgently and decisively to protect the Palestinian people from the Israeli aggression and recognize their legitimate national rights, foremost of which is the right to establish their independent state based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. Additionally, The State of Qatar has expressed in the strongest terms its condemnation and denunciation of the brutal massacre and systematic killing committed by the Israeli occupation forces against unarmed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. HE Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lolwah AlKhater, said that the State of Qatar calls on all international and regional powers that have a voice in Israel to act immediately to stop the brutal killing machine, and calls upon the Security Council and international community to shoulder their responsibilities. On the talks during the extraordinary summit, the Turkish president said they will send a strong message to the world, adding that his country will never accept the U.S. decision to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He noted that such step showed that Washington cannot be a mediator in the peace process due to its bias in favor of Israel. For his part, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said he hopes it will send a very strong message on the Palestinians issue, stressing the need to immediately end the human brutality in Palestine. As for the U.N. handling of the Israeli massacre, Yildirim said he has never seen the international organization "so helpless." Yildirim added that such events clearly demonstrate the importance of the calls for restructuring the United Nations, changing the permanent membership of the Security Council and the use of veto power, noting that the world is bigger than the five permanent members. Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ambassador, Ibrahim Kalin, said the Islamic summit will discuss the steps of Islamic states in order to defend the Palestinian and Jerusalem issue through cooperation and solidarity with Palestine and its people. "The summit will focus on the attitude and actions to be taken by Muslim countries in solidarity and cooperation with the Palestinian State and its people in order to defend the causes of Palestine and Jerusalem," Kalin added. In a written statement Thursday, Kalin said the occupation of Israel and the Palestinian issue are not problems for the Muslim countries alone but "common problems for everyone who believe in law and justice". OIC representative to Palestine Ambassador Ahmed Al Ruwaidi said the summit is important as it is taking place in light of the latest developments which took place in Gaza on Monday. Palestinian envoy to OIC Maher Al Karaki said the summit will discuss the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and the Israeli massacre against the Palestinians in the Gaza strip. He expected that the summit will confirm the rejection towards relocating the embassy as it is a dangerous violation to international laws and Security Council resolutions. He also expected that the summit reaffirms its rejections towards any attempt to change the current legal and historical status of the city of Jerusalem, and it will call on all its member states to mobilize support for the Holy City. Al Karaki also expected that the summit will call on the Security Council and international community to act immediately to provide protection to the Palestinian people. OIC Council of Foreign Ministers issued a condemnation statement against the relocation of the U.S. embassy which rejected and condemned in the strongest terms the "illegal decision by the U.S. administration and considers this action as an attack on the historical, legal, natural and national rights of the Palestinian people, which undermines the standing of the United Nations and rule of international law and thus represents an affront to international peace and security." The statement added that such "deplorable action" by the U.S. administration constitute a "clear violation of all existing international laws" pertaining to the status of Jerusalem and Palestine, particularly the U.N. Security Council resolutions. The specific status of Jerusalem is central to OIC, to the Muslim nation, and other religions, which "therefore requires the protection and preservation of its unique spiritual, religious and cultural dimensions, as foreseen in relevant UN resolutions. Hence, the final status of Al Quds Al Sharif should and must be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant U.N. Resolutions." "The OIC determines that it will continue its efforts to defend the two-state solution and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood by creating positive and irreversible political and legal realities, and lead efforts to formulate a multilateral and credible approach to end the conflict on the basis of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions," the statement said. The organization said it decided to "pursue all available legal, political, and legislative avenues at the national and international levels to confront and stop the Israeli colonial settlement regime in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and adopt actions to ensure that companies and other actors that choose to benefit from the Israeli colonial regime are deprived of the opportunity of accessing OIC markets." "OIC calls upon all states to refrain from supporting the U.S. decision and stresses that it shall apply political and economic restrictions to countries, officials, parliaments, companies, or individuals who recognize the annexation of Al Quds by Israel, the occupying power, or deal with any measures related to consecration of Israeli colonization of occupied Palestinian territory," the statement added. As sights turn to Istanbul in anticipation of the outcomes of the summit, the meet is the second within a few months and touches on the same issues in a strong and new affirmation of the genuine threats and international dimensions of any measure or attempt to change the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem, in addition to the need to provide international protection for the Palestinian people. OIC member states held an extraordinary meeting in Istanbul on Dec.13 following U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. The summit issued a declaration in which leaders of Muslim countries reiterated their rejection of the U.S. president's decision and described it as null and void from the standpoint of conscience, justice and history, in the same manner as Israel's decision to annex Jerusalem as well as its measures and procedures there that were and will never be acceptable. The declaration called on the whole world to recognize East Jerusalem as an occupied capital of the State of Palestine. (QNA)