Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 03/05/2013
Pristina2 May 2013 His Excellency Mr. Jakup Krasniqi, Speaker of the Parliament, Distinguished Members of the Assembly, I should at the outset express my heartfelt thanks to the people and Government of Kosovo for the warm reception accorded to me and my delegation and for giving me the honor to address this august Assembly today. I wish also to thank you Mr. Speaker for the kind words with which you have warmly welcomed me. I am indeed extremely grateful. Let me also affirm at this point that my visit to Kosovo reflects OICs as well as my personal commitment to support in every possible way the strengthening of the bilateral relations between Kosovo and the OIC in a concrete and mutually fruitful manner. My meetings since our arrival in Pristina have served to strengthen my deep conviction that OIC and Kosovo are bound together by strong ties of shared objectives which provide a firm foundation and meaningful cooperation in all fields. Today, I had the honor of being decorated with the State Medal of Kosovo by H.E. President Jahjaga as a token of my support to Kosovo. It is an honour bestowed not only to me, but to all my colleagues at the General Secretariat of the OIC who have always been committed to the just cause of the Kosovar people. It is a known fact that the people of Kosovo have suffered a great deal of atrocities. The OIC has consistently condemned all large-scale repressions, discrimination and the violations of human rights against the defenceless Kosovan population. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Parliamentarians, I wish to share with you the memory when I followed on the 17th of February 2008, from my hotel room in the Senegalese capital Dakar, the historical declaration of the independence of Kosovo that was made by this august Assembly. That same evening I met with H.E. President Abdulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairman of the upcoming Islamic Summit, during which I briefed him about your historical decision and our readiness at the OIC to support Kosovo, requesting him that Senegal recognizes the independence of Kosovo. The next day on 18th of February 2008, I was in the small resort city of Sale in the Senegal on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, attending the OIC Senior Officials Meeting Preparatory to the OIC 11th Summit that was held in Dakar. There, at 10:00 local tıme, I made the following statement [Quote] “A very important event took place yesterday. Kosovo has finally declared its ındependence after a long and determined struggle by its people. As we rejoice this happy result, we declare our solidarity with and support to our brothers and sisters there. The Islamic Ummah wishes them success in their new battle awaiting them which is the building of a strong and prosperous state capable of satisfying its people. There is no doubt that the independence of Kosovo will be an asset to the Muslim world and that would further enhance the joint Islamic action.” During the day, both Afghanistan and Turkey officially recognized the independence of Kosovo. Senegal followed before midnight of the same day. Following that date, I have worked hard with my colleagues to garner more support for Kosovo. I should recall that the first post- Kosovo declaration of independence year, things run smoothly, but later on I have faced serious obstacle whereby some of the governments of our member states, despite their strong sympathy with the plight of the people in Kosovo and their fıght against aggression, had serious reservation about Kosovo’s full independence. These governments considered the independence of Kosovo as a case of secession from a homeland, and therefore, as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another country. It was clear to me from the beginning that the esteemed officials of these governments were not well- informed about the history and geopolitics of the Balkans in general and of Kosovo in particular. As a result, they did not appreciate the right of Kosovo for full independence, like many other countries that became independent following the dissolution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. I had to explain to my interlocutors among the OIC member states that Kosovo has been predominantly inhabited by Muslim communities since 1389 and, without going into the historical details of Pax-Ottomana, stayed a Muslim land well into the second half of the 19th century. When nationalistic currents erupted throughout the Balkan region, it was the Muslim groups in Kosovo that demanded autonomy from the Ottoman Central administration and Kosovo gained provincial status in 1876 the year when the new Ottoman Constitution was promulgated. Moreover, Kosovo was extended full autonomy before the Balkan Wars, but following the invasion of the Serbian army, the Province of Kosovo was annexed by Serbia. This annexation was formalized with the Treaty of London on 30 May 1913, despite the fact that the majority of the population of the Kosovo province was made up of Muslim communities such as Albanians, Turks and Bosniaks. Although there were systematic attempts throughout the 20th century to realize a radical transformation in the ethnic and religious composition of Kosovo through forced waves of migration, in terms of its historıcal and cultural identity, Kosovo has never become an integral part of Serbia. So the arguments claiming the historical and cultural association of Kosovo with another state were largely ideological and devoid of firm factual basis. Therefore, the independence of Kosovo cannot be constructed as a case of secession from the homeland. These historical explanations helped me gaining the support and the recognition of these hesitant countries. Furthermore, I have always underscored the fact that Europe will continue to be a home, and not a host, for the Muslims, as I have underlined time and again and most recently durıng my last visit to Bosnia Herzegovina two weeks ago. At this point I believe that I need to put all this in a proper historical perspective. Indeed, the OIC started to deal with the situation in Kosovo at the 24th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in Jakarta back in 1996 where the Ministers adopted the first resolution on the issue condemning the serious human rights violations in Kosovo by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and called upon the international community to act against the perpetrators. Since then, Kosovo remains an important item on the agenda of the OIC. Since independence, we have established close political dialogue with the Government of Kosovo at all levels, including the recent visits by Prime Minister Thaci and Foreign Minister Hoxhaj to the OIC Headquarters. Upon my invitation, Prime Minister Thaci attended the 12th OIC Islamic Summit in Cairo in February 2013, and Foreign Minister Hoxhaj also attended the 39th Djibouti CFM in November 2012. Different resolutions adopted by the OIC at the level of the Heads of State and Governments and Foreign Ministers, including at the Cairo Summit, called upon the Member States of the Organization to consider recognizing of Kosovo based on their free and sovereign rights as well as on their national practice. These resolutions also welcomed the progress made towards strengthening democracy in Kosovo and the institutional work at all relevant levels, serving peace and stability in the country and the entire region. They further encouraged cooperation of Kosovo with the OIC economic and financial institutions, and called on the international community, including OIC Member States, to continue contributing to the fostering of Kosovos economy. On my part, I will continue to encourage the OIC Member States which have not recognized Kosovo so far to do so. I have been consistently mobilizing them to this effect, and I am glad to inform you that as of today, 32 out of the 99 UN member States that have until now recognized Kosovo are OIC Member States – the last being Pakistan and Guyana. I am confident that the number of OIC countries recognizing Kosovo will further increase in the near future. I am equally convinced that Kosovo will soon take its rightful place at the UN as a prelude to joining the OIC as a full Member State which would enable Kosovo to fully benefit from the activities and programs of the OIC and its subsidiary organs. Indeed, the end of international supervision of Kosovo last September was yet another testament to the remarkable progress that Kosovo has made towards consolidating its institutions on the basis of democracy, rule of law and international standards, while preserving its multi-ethnic and multi-religious character. At this point, as a Turkish citizen, I should also commend the Kosovo citizens of Turkish origin who are contributing actively to the political, economic, cultural and social spheres in Kosovo. Meanwhile, we have supported the process of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia with the European Union facilitation on technical issues as requested by the relevant UN resolutions. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate both parties on their recent agreement reached under the EU’s facilitation which- I believe- will enhance stability in the region. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Parliamentarians, As you may be aware, the OIC as the second international intergovernmental organization after the UN has come a long way to make its impact felt not only within Member States but internationally as well. The OIC is not a religious organization, but mandated to coordinate and streamline the collective voice of the Muslim world. It is also entrusted with defending the interests and the just causes of the Muslims and the Muslim world, and functions as the only official organization that represents and speaks on behalf of the Muslim world. The 57 member countries of the OIC are spread over a large geographical region spanning four continents, from Albania in the north to Mozambique in the South, and from Guyana and Suriname in the West to Indonesia in the Far East. As such, the OIC geography accounts for one sixth of our globe, and the 1.5 billion Muslims for more than one fourth of the total world population. Aiming at fulfilling our peoples aspirations for development and for a better life and for addressing the difficult challenges of the new millennium, Heads of States and Government of the OIC countries adopted a Ten-Year Program of Action in 2005 with a view to transforming the OIC into a powerful entity capable of attaining these objectives. This program provides a blueprint that encompasses all spheres of concerns to the Muslim world. It calls for collective actions to strengthen the economic cooperation, to energize OIC intra-trade promotion among member states and investment, and to build capacity. It also emphasizes the urgent need to develop and upgrade the standards of higher education with a focus on science and technology. It calls for promoting human rights culture, along with democracy, rule of law, good governance, transparency, accountability and the empowerment of women. The efforts being exerted by the OIC as an effective partner at the international level led also to the increase in the number of international and regional organizations seeking to strengthen their ties with the OIC, such as the UN, AU, Arab League, EU, OSCE , OECD and GCC. The OIC has concluded Memoranda of Understanding and Cooperation Agreements with many regional and international organizations aimed at building, preserving and promoting close relations and fruitful cooperation between the OIC and these organizations. A remarkable achievement was realized when we have managed to consolidate and unify the voting pattern of our member states in international fora to advance key issues of joint interest. Mr. Speaker, Distinguished Members of the Parliament, Peace, on one hand, and development, on the other, are the two main ideals to which we all aspire. I believe it is high time that we all learn from human experience, from world history, and from human wisdom, regardless of race, religion or way of thinking in order for us to avoid the human tragedies that plague the world today and move instead toward global peace and prosperity. As a Secretary General of a trans-regional organization, I need not stress that our main concern is for a peaceful and settled future in which the poor have a chance to become rich, the oppressed to be free and the ignorant to be enlightened. In conclusion, the problems that confront our people are many and varied. I have not referred to many of them. However, I would like to conclude my remarks by saying that the Muslim World has an immense reservoir of talents and resources. We must banish poverty, ignorance, hunger, malnutrition and disease from the Muslim World. We must set an example of solidarity to the rest of the World. Our values stand for peace, tolerance, non-discrimination and equality. We must spread these values to all corners and peoples of the World. We can do so only by example not by precept. This is our obligation. Let us not fail in our duty. Mr. Speaker, Distinguished Members of the Parliament, Finally, I wish to assure you that the OIC would continue its solidarity with the people of Kosovo in their legitimate rights. Personally, as a friend committed to your cause, and one who has grown up enjoying very valuable friendships with Kosovars, I will always deploy all efforts to further support Kosovo. My late father, too, had many Kosovar friends who were closer than family relatives with whom we as a family shared the same culture and the same concerns for more than a half century. I will continue mobilizing Member States to fully recognise Kosovo and to extend the necessary support to the cause of restoration of peace and stability in Kosovo where people will have enduring peace and live in harmony I thank you for your kind attention.
