BAKU: According to The Express Tribune, representatives of more than 10 countries, including Pakistan, walked out of the hall at the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on Thursday as Israeli President Isaac Herzog began his address around noon.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was among those who left, the report said. A similar walkout took place during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the UN General Assembly's high-level week in New York in September.
The one-day summit was hosted by Azerbaijan, the current CICA chair, and brought together member states, observers and partner international organisations. Its agenda covered regional cooperation, connectivity, digitalisation and sustainable development, and it was expected to adopt a Baku declaration and announce Laos as a new member.
In his address, Fidan said CICA members must take a firm stance in support of the rights of Palestine, itself a CICA member, adding that a lasting solution required an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. More on The Express Tribune.