The head of the Arab Parliament, Mishaal Al-Salami, said that Turkish and Iranian interference in Arab affairs has driven member states to push for a new unified strategy on dealing with neighboring countries.
The Arab Parliament mandate affirms the necessity of upholding the unity of Arab national security. Any attack on any Arab state is considered an attack on the Arab nation as whole, Al-Salami told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He stressed that Arab national security prevails over the bilateral relations of any of the Arab countries with Turkey and Iran.
The recently approved strategy is centered on dealing with aggressive neighboring countries, namely Turkey and Iran.
Al-Salami said that the strategy comes to handle the challenges facing the region and to counter Iranian and Turkish expansionist ambitions.
Emphasizing the importance of Arab relations with Turkey, Al-Salami said they must be based on principles of international law, good neighborliness, mutual respect for the sovereignty of states and legal systems, and non-interference in internal affairs.
Al-Salami also said that threats of using force should be avoided.
The new strategy rejects the expansionist ambitions of Ankara in the Arab region and activates the Joint Defense Council that was established under Article 6 of the Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty of 1950.
The Council will serve as a collective Arab deterrent tool against Turkish military interventions in Arab countries.
According to the strategy, Arab states will mull halting trade exchange and joint projects with Ankara until the Turkish regime gives up its expansionist ambitions in the region and its hostile policies and actions that threaten peace, security and stability in Arab countries.
It also demands that Turkey bars its state-funded propagandist satellite channels that mislead public opinion and that it legislates laws that prohibit these channels from broadcasting on Arab satellites.
With regard to dealing with Iran, the strategy called for solidarity with any Arab country facing Iranian regime aggression and hostility.
It rejected the Iranian nuclear project and demanded commitment to clearing the Middle East region of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction.
Denouncing the establishment of any Iran-linked militias or organizations in Arab states, the strategy underpinned the need to bolster commitment to the Arab identity and to resolve internal disputes away from sectarianism.
It also stressed the importance of restoring UAE sovereignty over the three Arab gulf islands occupied by Iran.
