Menu
Latest
Menu
Latest
Muslims pin hope on OIC summit in Mecca. Azerbaijan, a member of the OIC, is represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Mammadyarov.

Muslims pin hope on OIC summit in Mecca. Azerbaijan, a member of the OIC, is represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Mammadyarov.

15 August 2012

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia yesterday opened what is being described as "an unprecedented conclave of Muslim leaders" in the holy city of Mecca. Addressing the summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Countries (OIC), which opened during the night due to the fact that participants were fasting for the Holy month of Ramadan,  King Abdullah urged Muslims to stand united in the face of growing challenges. “Sedition is worse than killing,” the king said and called for dialogue among the various Muslim sects. He proposed the establishment of a dialogue center to promote inter-sectarian harmony. The proposal was received with thunderous applause from the assembled galaxy of Muslim leaders.

Earlier, King Abdullah received the Muslim leaders at his palace, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. In a gesture that would be interpreted as a sign of the summit’s success, King Abdullah made Ahmadinejad to sit right beside him. Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad was on the king’s other side. The influential Saudi newspaper Arab news said that "there was optimism and a sense of delight among the hosts, as well as their foreign guests."

Syria is high on the agenda of the summit, with the Muslim world split between those like Iran who support the current Syrian government of Bashir el Assad and thos who are against.

Azerbaijan, an active member of the Organisation of the Islamic Countries, is represented in the summit by its Foreign Minister Elmar Mamadyarov.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev last night attended an Iftar party in Baku on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan hosted by Head of the Caucasian Muslims` Board Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade at his residence. The event kicked off with the recitation of verses from the Quran. Adressing the event, Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade thanked the Head of State for accepting his invitation to attend the Iftar party. He also thanked the religious figures for attending the event.

Ramadan ends this weekend and will be followed by several days of Eid celebrations.

source: commonspace.eu

photo: King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia flanked by the Iranian and Qatari leaders at the opening of the OIC summit in Mecca on 14 August. (Picture courtesy of the Saudi News Agency - SPA.)

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Uzbekistan calls for bigger voice for Central Asia in the UN
Trending

Uzbekistan calls for bigger voice for Central Asia in the UN

26 September 2026
Uzbekistan called for a more effective and representative United Nations on September 23, as presidential administration chief Saida Mirziyoyeva used her address to the UN General Assembly to seek support for the country’s candidacy for a nonpermanent Security Council seat in 2035–2036. Speaking at the Assembly’s 81st session in New York, Mirziyoyeva argued that international cooperation remains necessary despite growing geopolitical divisions. She endorsed UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ UN80 reform initiative and called for an expanded Security Council, arguing that international rules should be applied consistently rather than according to the interests of powerful states. Uzbekistan’s planned chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2027 was presented as another platform for promoting dialogue. Her emphasis on multilateralism also fits a broader Central Asian effort to increase the region’s role in international institutions. Kyrgyzstan, for example, will hold its first Security Council seat in 2027–2028. Mirziyoyeva also highlighted regional cooperation, pointing to improved relations among Central Asian states over longstanding border and water disputes. On Afghanistan, she urged countries not to view it solely as a security threat, stressing the importance of creating conditions for peaceful development. She linked Uzbekistan’s international agenda to domestic reforms, citing economic growth, falling poverty and expanded education. Climate and water security also featured prominently, with the Aral Sea serving as an example of the consequences of poor environmental management. (click image to read more)

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov
Trending

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

15 January 2026
Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)
Murad Muradov
Lauri Nikulainen interviews Murad Muradov