BAKU, June 29, 2011 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas, in a meeting Tuesday with President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, affirmed the Palestinian leadership’s intention to seek United Nations recognition and membership of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders next September, based on the Palestinians’ legitimate right to self-determination according to the UN charters.

Abbas told Aliyev, “We fully support negotiations and a process to achieve peace. If Israel accepts the establishment of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders and stops all settlement activities, we will resume negotiations to reach a proper solution for both sides.”

He added, “unfortunately, Israel has not accepted negotiations with the Palestinians, so we have decided to seek UN recognition. We want to ask the whole world what it thinks about a people who have spent 63 years under an illegitimate occupation. We want independence, no more and no less. That is our goal now. The negotiations didn’t work and now we are heading to the UN.”

Abbas said that Palestine and Azerbaijan share several commonalities. “You have an occupied land and refugees and so do we. You have international resolutions calling for peace and we have more that 15 resolutions as well. Both our countries are looking to reach peaceful solutions and end these conflicts.”

Aliyev expressed his country’s full support of a Palestinian state and its membership in the UN, saying, “we will always support the Palestinian state and we hope it will be established within 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.”

He added, “This is our duty as Muslims. We support the legitimate international resolutions and we will do our best to increase international support to establish a Palestinian state. Thanks to the Palestinian leadership’s efforts, the Palestinian cause is receiving wide attention from the international community.”

Abbas thanked Aliyev and his people for inviting him to visit Azerbaijan and supporting the Palestinian cause to achieve independence and establish a Palestinian state. He invited the Azeri president to visit Palestine as well.

Abbas and Aliyev also discussed the cultural, social and economic relations between the two countries and future cooperation between them.

M.H./F.J.