Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, speaking at the ECO summit in Tashkent, noted that the people of Palestine have the right to create their own independent state. He also said that the people of Afghanistan cannot be allowed to be left alone with the current complex problems.

“The Palestinian-Israeli war in the Middle East, which poses a serious global threat to peace and security, is of great concern to all of us. Unfortunately, the victims of the bloody conflict are primarily numerous members of the civilian population, especially women, children and the elderly. The threat of war spreading throughout the region is becoming more and more real,” the head of Uzbekistan noted, speaking at the ECO summit in Tashkent.

“We cannot allow this confrontation to turn into a large-scale conflict. We call on the parties to immediately cease hostilities, begin peaceful negotiations, and achieve a reasonable compromise,” the President said.

“Once again we express our firm position - the people of Palestine have the right to create their own independent state, which is confirmed by the resolutions of the United Nations,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

“I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that today’s summit is taking place without the participation of Afghanistan, one of the members of our Organization,” he noted.

“We cannot allow the multi-ethnic people of Afghanistan, who have been our closest neighbors for centuries, to be left alone with the current complex problems. The active involvement of this country in regional integration processes is an indispensable and necessary condition for our sustainable development,” Mirziyoyev said.

“I urge all of you to increase humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, to solve the acute socio-economic problems in this country on the basis of collective responsibility and acceptable mechanisms,” he noted.