“FETO is an international terrorist organization” – Ahmad Shahidov defended Turkey at the OSCE

On September 10, the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) of OSCE participating States, organized by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) started its work in Warsaw, Poland. Representatives of OSCE participating States, OSCE institutions, and OSCE executive structures, representatives of inter-governmental organizations, legal professionals, representatives of civil society and researchers from 57 participating States took part in discussions.

On September 19, taking an active part in discussions on the topic of “Humanitarian issues and other commitments, including combating trafficking in human beings, refugees and displaced persons”, Head of Azerbaijan Institute for Democracy and Human Rights Dr. Ahmad Shahidov spoke about the refugee crisis in the world and stressed the importance of joint struggle against this global problem: “Today there are 68.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. It is possible to find refugees and internally displaced persons in all countries of the world. Right now, when we have discussions here, the war in Syria goes on, and people are forced to leave their homes and become refugees. So, refugees and internally displaced persons are a global problem, and everyone sitting here should be sensitive to this issue. Nobody can guarantee that tomorrow in Sweden, Norway or Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will not start a new war. And your people can also become refugees. Therefore, we must discuss the causes of the problem, not the consequences. And we need to show concrete addresses and criticize them.”

In response to the harsh criticisms on Turkey from several foreign representatives, human rights defender Ahmad Shahidov said that today Turkey is home to the world’s most refugees and internally displaced persons: “I just want to highlight one fact. Today, Turkey is the only country in the world that hosts most refugees. Turkey hosts 3.5 million refugees. Unfortunately, Turkey today is the country that face most discrimination. Today, Europe and the United States are fighting against Turkey. They imposes sanctions on Turkey. The elements of the FETO and other terrorist organizations openly criticize here Turkey and OSCE member states support them. That is why we do not see representative of Turkey here. It is a clear message to us.”

PS. The Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) of OSCE participating States is Europe’s largest annual human rights and democracy conference. It is organized every year by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) as a platform for the 57 OSCE participating States, the OSCE Partners for Co-operation, OSCE structures, civil society, international organizations and other relevant actors to take stock of the implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments, discuss associated challenges, share good practices and make recommendations for further improvement.

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