Palestine Declaration adopted by OIC in last day of summit

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday adopted Palestine Declaration in the final day of a summit which chaired under the leadership of Turkey in Istanbul.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -who chaired the final session- said the Palestine Declaration once again proves the support to Palestine by the Muslim countries.

"The Palestine Declaration that we have accepted is once again the highest level proof and expression of the support given by Islamic world to our Palestinian brothers in their honorable resistance," said Erdogan, after the voting.

"We have never left alone our Palestinian brothers so far," he said.

"Inshallah [God willing] we are never going to leave them on their own."

The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous "Balfour Declaration," called for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city of Jerusalem in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.

Palestinians, for their part, continue to demand the establishment of an independent state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

‘Decisions give hope billions of people'

The 13th summit of the organisation, whose chair taken from Egypt by Turkey for the next two years, hoped to increase unity and solidarity between Muslim countries against terrorism.

Erdogan also criticised the Western stance on terrorist organisations.

"Once again I am calling on international community to revise their stance on terrorist organisation," said Erdogan.

"We need to combat terrorism by blocking financial support and stopping more people joining the terrorist organisations as well as by carrying operation on the field against them."

In the closing session of the summit, the Turkish President Erdogan said the decisions taken in the summit gave hope to billions of people around the world.

"We must never forget that even if one single person unjustly suffers and persecuted, this number is too high."

During the high-level meeting, Muslim leaders also discussed the situation in Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Iraq, and Azerbaijan.

Founded in 1969, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation consists of 57 member states and represents the collective voice of the Islamic world.