D-8 ministers call for Gaza ceasefire, halting arms supply to 'Israel'
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The council condemns “unjustifiable attacks” by "Israel" that may prompt the aggression to spread to the rest of the region.
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Foreign ministers posing for a photo at the end of the Extraordinary Meeting of the D-8 Council of Ministers on June 8, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey. (D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation)
The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation has called for an immediate end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza after the end of the Extraordinary Meeting of the D-8 Council of Ministers in Istanbul.
The joint declaration urged “an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire, the cessation of the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the immediate implementation of the relevant UN Resolutions."
The D-8 council also called on other nations to pressure "Israel" to comply with the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice, stressing that the “brutal Israeli aggression” must cease to pave the way for aid to reach those in need.
The joint statement added that countries must “stop supplying weapons and ammunition to Israel that are used by its army and extremist settlers to kill the Palestinian people and destroy their homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, churches and all their properties."
Read more: Turkish exports to 'Israel' plummet 99% amid Gaza genocide
The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, comprising Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Pakistan, convened the meeting to address pressing international issues, including the Palestinian bid for UN membership, and requested that the US “lift its veto on the full membership of Palestine in the UN as an independent and sovereign State."
The council further condemned “unjustifiable attacks” by "Israel" that may prompt the aggression to spread to the rest of the region, such as the targeting of the Iranian embassy in Syria’s Damascus in April.
At the opening of the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan urged Saturday the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to break free from US influence and grant Palestine full UN membership.
Fidan went on to accuse the Israeli occupation of violating numerous international laws and committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7. "Israel has violated every conceivable norm of international law and committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip since October 7," he asserted.
The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, 1997, is an organization for economic cooperation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Its objectives are to improve member states’ position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at the international level, and improve standards of living.
