First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva’s address to participants of “One Heart for Palestine” meeting

First Lady of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva has addressed the participants of the “One Heart for Palestine” meeting of first ladies in Istanbul on November 15.

- Dear Mrs. Erdogan,

Dear meeting participants,

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the First Lady of the Republic of Türkiye, Honorable Emine Erdogan, for her invitation to participate in this event.

I would like to specifically note and highly appreciate Mrs. Erdogan’s activities in the humanitarian and social fields, including her contribution to the provision of assistance to civilians, women and children suffering from military conflicts.

The Republic of Türkiye, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is a powerful state that has made important achievements in all fields and enjoys a great reputation in the international world. Brotherly Türkiye always stands by peace and justice and makes an important contribution to ensuring stability and security in the region and the world. The Azerbaijan-Türkiye brotherhood and unity are at their highest level today.

Dear meeting participants,

It is causing a serious concern that the scale of tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict zone is growing by the day, causing an enormous human tragedy. Each of us is deeply moved by the unbearable human suffering we are watching with a heartache. It is very sad that civilians, especially women and children, are the ones who suffer the most from this armed conflict. It is necessary to observe international humanitarian law during military operations. I offer my condolences to the relatives of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

Azerbaijan supports calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and voted in favor of a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in October regarding the latest tensions. Our country supports the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the two states solution in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions. Since 2019, during our chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, we have constantly paid attention to the issue of Palestine. I believe that the opening of the Representative Office of our country in the city of Ramallah this year will stimulate the development of Azerbaijan-Palestine relations.

Over the past 10 years, our country has repeatedly provided humanitarian and financial assistance through the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. At the same time, Azerbaijan has hosted a number of international events to attract political and financial support to Palestine. Among them, I would like to mention the founding conference of the Islamic Financial Security Network to help the State of Palestine and the donor conference to support the development of the city of Jerusalem. Palestinian youths are receiving higher education in our country on the basis of scholarships provided by the state of Azerbaijan. The school to be built by Azerbaijan in Palestine will be another manifestation of our support of the Palestinian people.

The current crisis facing international institutions with broad powers is preventing the resolution of important issues. This deep-rooted crisis is another topic of discussion. I would like to note that the failure to resolve military conflicts in modern times is largely due to the selective application of international law. Double standards and bias make this crisis worse.

False stories are circulated by biased media platforms to mislead public opinion and manipulate international law. Even more dangerous are cases of abuse of moral values for the purpose of manipulation.

As a result of 30 years of Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan, our territories were occupied, nearly one million of our compatriots were displaced from their ancestral homes, more than 300 cities and villages were destroyed, and our religious and cultural heritage was destroyed. Sixty-five out of 67 mosques in our occupied lands were destroyed.

I would like to note with regret that the four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council in 1993 remained on paper for 27 years. In 2020, Azerbaijan freed its lands from occupation in the 44-day Patriotic War. In September this year, by carrying out an anti-terror operation, we completely restored our sovereignty by ending the existence of the remnants of the Armenian armed forces and separatism.

At the end of my address, I would like to emphasize that even in the most difficult moments, humanity should not lose its sense of compassion. Therefore, I once again express my deep gratitude to Mrs. Erdogan for organizing this important event.