The foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned Israel's destabilizing policy in the region and decided to establish a ministerial contact group to work for de-escalation.
This is stated in the Istanbul Declaration, adopted after the meeting of the organization's Council of Foreign Ministers, held on June 21-22 in Turkey.
"We condemn Israel's destabilizing policy in the region and its recent attacks on Iran, Syria and Lebanon, which constitute a gross violation of the sovereignty and security of these countries and international law. We call on the international community to take deterrent measures to stop this aggression and hold Israel accountable for the crimes it has committed. "We decide to establish an open ministerial contact group tasked with establishing regular contacts with relevant regional and international countries in order to support efforts for de-escalation, cessation of aggression against Iran and achievement of a peaceful settlement," the document released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The declaration also stated:
The foreign ministers called for the convening of the UN international conference on Palestine "as soon as possible". "It is necessary to resume the activities of the working groups established in this regard. We call on all UN member states to actively participate in this event on new dates to be announced later."
Israel's attacks on Iran threaten the humanitarian, economic and environmental situation in the region. "We strongly condemn Israel's aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. "We underline the urgent need to stop the Israeli attacks and our deep concern about this dangerous escalation, which threatens the humanitarian, economic and environmental situation in the region," the document said.
It is necessary to immediately open all crossings on the Gaza border and deliver aid there in the necessary quantities. “We condemn Israel's use of starvation as a means of genocide in the Gaza Strip. The ministers also stressed that they consider “all attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from their land“ unacceptable and condemned “Israel's aims to make life in Gaza impossible“.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit will be held in Azerbaijan in 2026. “We welcome the summit to be held in Azerbaijan in 2026 and look forward to its contribution to unity, solidarity and cooperation in the Islamic world.“
The foreign ministers expressed deep concern about the growing Islamophobia, a form of racism and discrimination. “We condemn all acts of violence based on religion or belief, hate speech and extremism justified by discrimination based on religion, as well as attempts to incite intercultural differences and tensions.“
The organization welcomes the progress in the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, “including the conclusion of negotiations on a bilateral treaty on peace and interstate relations”. “We call on Armenia to remove the remaining legal and political obstacles to its signing.“