Baku hosts 11th session of OIC tourism ministers

Baku is hosting the 11th session of tourism ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, APA reports.

The event, held at the Baku Congress Center, is attended by the Ministers of Tourism of the OIC countries, heads of tourism associations and other persons.

At the beginning of the conference, Fuad Nagiyev read out a greeting message from the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, which states that 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the entry of the Republic of Azerbaijan into the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was one of the first international organizations, of which Azerbaijan became a member after the restoration independence. The letter notes that Azerbaijan has always supported the activities of the OIC, made efforts to strengthen unity between member states.

It was especially emphasized that during the 30-year occupation, the Armenians completely destroyed the cultural heritage in the territories liberated from the occupation, all Islamic religious monuments, 65 out of 67 mosques, committed actions that offended the feelings of not only Azerbaijanis, but Muslims around the world, gratitude was expressed to the member countries and to the OIC Secretariat for strongly condemning the Armenian vandalism.

Speaking further, F. Nagiyev stressed that the current meeting is the first meeting of the ministers of tourism of Islamic countries after the pandemic and the conference plays the role of an important platform in the development of relations between members of the organization.

The chairman of the agency said that Azerbaijan, having put an end to the 30-year occupation, liberated its lands: “However, during this time, most of the cultural and religious monuments of Karabakh were destroyed. At present, large-scale restoration and construction work is being carried out on the lands liberated from occupation. Tomorrow, during our visit to Shusha, you will be able to get acquainted with the ongoing construction work.”

According to him, the Baku Declaration, which will be adopted at the conference, will reflect the issues of education, exchange of experience and cooperation between countries in the field of tourism, the possibility of attracting member states to peaceful construction and restoration work in the territories liberated from occupation.

OIC Secretary General Hussein Brahim Taha thanked Azerbaijan for holding a high-level conference, noting that the expansion of tourism ties between OIC members contributes to Islamic solidarity.

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