Azerbaijan and the OIC: Decades of Mutual Understanding

Azerbaijan has been a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for 35 years, and during this time it has distinguished itself through its initiative and sense of responsibility. Our country has made a significant contribution to strengthening Islamic solidarity and has actively participated in enhancing the organization’s international standing. Moreover, by its example, it dispels the prejudiced views about Islam that exist in the world and do not reflect the true essence of this religion. This is a very important point, and one could say that this is the mission of Azerbaijan as a representative of the Muslim world. Azerbaijan is recognized internationally as a model of tolerance and multicultural policy. Holding events within the framework of the OIC in this country is of great importance in terms of promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue and eliminating stereotypes about Islam and Muslims.

Developing relations with the OIC remains one of the priorities of our country’s foreign policy, as it became the first post?Soviet republic to become a member of this organization. Over the years of its membership, Azerbaijan has demonstrated itself to be an active and useful member of the organization, a reliable partner working for common interests. He consistently advocated for the strengthening of Islamic solidarity and raised the issue of Islamophobia from the highest platforms. As an active member of the OIC and ISESCO, Azerbaijan initiated the creation of new organizations aimed at strengthening Islamic solidarity — the OIC Youth Forum and the Journalists’ Association. In 2006, Azerbaijan hosted the 13th Conference of OIC Foreign Ministers, and in 2010 — the 35th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Development Bank. The year 2017 was declared the Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan. In the same year, the IV Islamic Solidarity Games were held in Baku, which not only demonstrated the solidarity of the participating countries but also presented the true image of Islam as a religion of peace and friendliness. The IV Islamic Solidarity Games, also known as Islamia 2017, were organized at the highest level and were very successful, with the participation of 1,500 athletes from 57 countries.

“We perceived these Games not just as sports competitions, but as a great celebration of unity,” said President Ilham Aliyev, receiving on September?15 a delegation consisting of members and observers of the Council of Heads of Muslim Religious Administrations of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), co?organizers of the International Conference dedicated to Yahya Bakuvi, and members of the Supreme Religious Council of the Peoples of the Caucasus.

In 2027, Azerbaijan will host the 16th session of the Islamic Summit Conference, as well as the 13th session of the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Information and other events within the framework of the OIC. Many events were also held in our country under the auspices of ISESCO. It should be recalled that ISESCO is an analogue of UNESCO, performing the same functions in the countries of the Muslim world.

The decision to hold the summit in Baku was made in May 2024 at a forum in the Gambia. Although no one expected such an escalation in the region two years ago, it so happened that Azerbaijan turned out to be one of the few stable and safe Muslim countries today.

"Azerbaijan acts as a unifying, conciliatory and cooperation-oriented country in all the organizations in which it is represented. I am confident that this Summit, which will be held in Azerbaijan next year, will yield excellent results," the Azerbaijani leader said.

It is important to note that Azerbaijan advocates for Muslim unity not against anyone, as some view this issue. Azerbaijan supports unity and mutual understanding within the Muslim world, for peace among Muslims themselves and in their relations with other faiths. It itself sets an example of how Islamic values can be preserved and upheld in a secular country, in a multicultural environment. Islamic values do not contradict the values of other faiths, as Islamophobes and radicals claim. On the contrary, in the atmosphere of tolerance and mutual understanding that prevails in Azerbaijan, different religions mutually enrich each other. This is a very important experience, and it is precisely what today’s world, torn apart by conflicts and contradictions, needs.From this perspective, Azerbaijan is a very valuable player in the space of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.Let us recall how it all began. In December 1991, at the OIC summit (then the Organization of the Islamic Conference) in Dakar, Azerbaijan’s appeal was considered, and a positive decision was made. At the next, 7th OIC summit, held in 1994 in Morocco, a resolution on the Karabakh conflict and the provision of economic assistance to Azerbaijan was adopted. The resolution contained a demand for Armenia to unconditionally comply with four UN resolutions and to immediately withdraw its armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. The OIC also called on other international organizations to provide Azerbaijan with urgent humanitarian and financial assistance. In 2004, the founding meeting of the OIC Youth Forum was held in Azerbaijan. On December 7-8, 2005, the Third Extraordinary Summit of the OIC was held in Mecca. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, took part in the meeting. In his speech, he expressed a categorical protest against attempts to link international terrorism with Islam, emphasizing that “such a thesis is completely erroneous, unfounded, and unacceptable.”

In October 2006, during a visit to Azerbaijan, ISESCO President Osman Al-Tuweijri awarded First Vice?President and President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, the title of ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador for her contributions to the development of education and intercivilizational dialogue. In 2007, ISESCO and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation signed a Cooperation Protocol.

Azerbaijan’s accession to the organization injected fresh momentum into its activities; at our country’s initiative, the union of Islamic states loudly declared the need for a dialogue of civilizations, thereby rising to a higher level and strengthening its role on the world stage. For its part, the OIC has consistently supported Azerbaijan’s fair position throughout the years of the Karabakh conflict. While other international structures avoided calling a spade a spade, OIC resolutions explicitly named Armenia as an aggressor. Overall, over the years of the conflict, the Organization has adopted more than 80 resolutions condemning Armenian aggression and supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country. In 2016, the OIC Contact Group was established in connection with the aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan continued to feel the support of the OIC during and after the Second Karabakh War. Representatives of the Organization have repeatedly visited the liberated territories. In September 2021, a delegation consisting of five representatives of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation visited Aghdam, Tartar, and Ganja. The purpose of the monitoring was to investigate Armenia’s war crimes committed during the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, as well as the facts of Armenian environmental terror and vandalism. Based on the monitoring results, a report was compiled, which was unanimously adopted at the 18th session of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the OIC in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). The report clearly documented war crimes committed in the territories of Azerbaijan that were subjected to Armenian aggression, gross violations of human rights and freedoms, and the destruction of national?cultural, architectural, historical, and religious monuments, including the destruction, looting, and desecration of mosques..

In December 2026, Azerbaijan will mark the 35th anniversary of its membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. And next year, leaders of the countries of the Islamic world will gather in Baku. And, as the President of Azerbaijan said, “we hope that before this summit, the processes taking place between some Muslim countries, the misunderstandings, and in some cases even the clashes, will come to an end.”