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Analysts Say EU, OIC Meeting “Total Failure”
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The forum
failed to address the issue of terrorism.
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ISTANBUL, Feb. 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Analysts and observers in the Middle East branded a two-day meeting of Foreign Ministers from the European Union (EU) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) as a “total failure”. They based their judgment on the fact that the meeting “failed to address the core issue: clear definition of terrorism”.
The meeting ended Wednesday, February 13, with a call for deeper dialogue between the West and Islam, and a pledge to work towards closing the divide between different cultures.
“As long as core issues like the definition of terrorism and the Palestinian cause are not tackled openly and in a just, logical way, harmony and understanding among the West and Islamic countries will not be accessible,” an Egyptian analyst, who asked not to be named, told IslamOnline Wednesday.
“In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the whole world, including almost all Arab countries, acted on the spot to protect the internationally recognized borders of a sovereign state,” he said. “Had the world then kept calling on Saddam to withdraw, nothing would have happened, right?
“The same should be applied to Palestine. [Far-right Israeli Premier Ariel] Sharon only understands the language of blood and terror. He will never respond to soft calls to be nice and implement U.N. resolutions,” added the analyst.
The joint statement, issued at the conclusion of the Istanbul meeting, called for a "just and comprehensive" settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "in accordance with international law and the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions".
"In this context, the "two state" solution will contribute to bring peace and security to the peoples concerned," it said.
As for the issue of terrorism, the Egyptian analyst said that “there must be a clear definition drawing a line between acts of resistance against an occupying force, and acts of intimidating innocent civilians mentioned in the U.N. Charter”.
“I believe this is the core issue impeding long-sought harmony among Western countries and the rest of the world, not just Islamic states,” he said.
EU and OIC Foreign Ministers, in their joint statement, condemned terrorism in general. They said it could not be justified for any reason and vowed to fight terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations within the framework of the United Nations".
Delegation sources said Arab states demanded that the declaration include a shared definition of terrorism, but EU officials rejected that on the grounds that such a definition already existed in U.N. resolutions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The call came after the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) political bureau chief Faruq Kaddumi requested that the conflict be mentioned in the text, overcoming initial resistance from Western states that it would not be appropriate to the meeting's purpose.
Despite the strong agreement among the participants on the need for cultural dialogue, there were differing opinions on what this dialogue should be and what it should focus on.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer questioned Tuesday, February 12, whether there was a genuine will in the Islamic world to have such a dialogue with the West, while British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it should deal with hard topics like terrorism and the treatment of women in Islamic countries, AFP reported.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi strongly criticized the United States for its "unilateral and militarist" approach in the war against terrorism, which he said could harm the international anti-terror coalition.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabry, for his part, said Tuesday that “a U.S. aggression on Iraq would hurt Turkey’s interests”. Sabry added that Ankara should “refuse the U.S. threats and stand up to them”.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq El-Shara, also lashed at the meeting, questioning its value if it fails to address “the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the daily atrocities perpetrated by Sharon against the Palestinians”.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem described the EU-OIC forum, the first of its kind, as a success. "We have taken a positive step not only for Turkey, but the entire region and the world," he told a press conference. "We will do everything we can for such meetings to take place in the future," Cem added.
Although the final declaration mentioned an invitation by Qatar, which holds the OIC presidency, to host an OIC-EU troika meeting in the second half of 2002 in Doha, there appeared to be no concrete consensus among the participants to institutionalize the process of West-Islam consultation.
The Istanbul meeting brought together more than 40 foreign ministers from both camps in a bid to foster dialogue between the predominantly Christian and Muslim countries in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
The forum was proposed and hosted by Turkey, an OIC member, an EU candidate and the only Muslim nation in NATO.
With additional reporting by Saad Abdul Majid, IOL Turkey correspondent and Khaled Mamdouh, IOL Cairo correspondent
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