The third summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) concluded in Istanbul Tuesday night with two separate declarations - the joint declaration agreed on by all member states,and the chairmans statement. Right until the final session,there was uncertainty over whether a joint declaration would be issued at all. Negotiators from the 20 member states had spent more than two days trying to arrive at a draft agreeable to all. The bone of contention was Turkeys strong push to include in the joint declaration a paragraph strongly condemning Israels attack on a Turkish aid flotilla and its continued blockade of Gaza. Israel effectively had a right to veto a joint declaration that contained any reference to Israeli actions - all CICA decisions and declarations are made by full consensus. Contrary to speculation,Israel did show up at the summit,even if it was only represented at the level of its Ambassador to Turkey. In the end,the Turkish chair agreed to remove the paragraphs with reference to Israel,so that a formal joint declaration could be issued. The chairmans statement,however,was a reflection of the general consensus among member countries that Israel had violated international law in attacking the Turkish-organised aid flotilla. It said that all member states except one (Israel),had expressed grave concern and condemnation for the actions taken by Israeli defence forces against the civilian flotilla transporting humanitarian aid material to Gaza. They agreed that this was a blatant violation of the UN charter and backed establishment of an independent international commission to be set up by the UN secretary general. The statement also said all member states except one had stressed the need to lift the inhuman blockade of Gaza. The statement said that an overwhelming majority of members had supported a call for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East and called on Israel to accede to NPT and put its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards. An overwhelming majority of the members also called for Israels withdrawal from all occupied Arab lands and establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. According to sources,Iran reportedly objected to the insertion of an explicit reference to a two-state solution,and it did not,therefore,find its way into the chairmans statement.
