OIC chief calls for restraint in Afghanistan

ANKARA (A.A) - February 27, 2012 - Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has called for calm and restraint in Afghanistan. A statement posted on OIC's website said Ihsanoglu had appealed to the people in Afghanistan and elsewhere for calm and restraint from violence in their protest against the recent act of burning of copies of the Holy Qur’an in a military base in Bagram, Afghanistan.  The secretary general said that the violence and bloodshed hurt the people of Afghanistan and caused loss of innocent lives. Ihsanoglu also issued a statement commemorating victims of the Khojaly Massacre on its 20th anniversary, recalling that the innocent people of Khojaly were ruthlessly massacred by the armed forces of Armenia and local Armenian militia in the Karabakh region.  Ihsanoglu said OIC fully supported the initiatives and efforts of Azerbaijan to put an end to the occupation of its territories.