OIC Resolutions on the “Afghan Question” in 1980–1989

Abstract

This article is devoted to a review of the political position of the Organization Islamic Conference (OIC) and its evolution regarding the Afghan armed conflict of 1980–1989. The source base for the article is the texts of the resolutions on the situation in Afghanistan and the final communiqués of the OIC Islamic Conferences of Foreign Ministers, the coordination meetings of the OIC Foreign Ministers and the Islamic Conferences at the highest level. The first section of the article examines the extraordinary session of the OIC Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers held in January 1980, which discussed the “Afghan question” and the decisions taken therein laid the foundations for the OIC's position on the Afghan armed conflict. The second section examines all subsequent OIC resolutions on Afghanistan and their features. The OIC solidarized with the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement in its attitude to the situation in Afghanistan, although there were differences in approaches to certain issues – for example, since January 1980, the OIC began to invite members of Afghan anti-government groups to all Islamic conferences as representatives of this country. The OIC member states in relation to the “Afghan issue” showed greater solidarity within the framework of this organization than the UN member states or the Non-Aligned Movement in relation to the same issue, although individual countries expressed reservations on the “Afghan” resolutions of the OIC. The position of the Organization of the Islamic Conference regarding the Afghan issue remained stable throughout the 1980s, undergoing minor changes.