Joint Communiqué of the Morocco-GCC Summit

The work of the Morocco-Gulf Countries Summit, held on Wednesday April 20th, 2016, in Riyadh, in the presence of Moroccan  King Mohammed VI, and the leaders of the six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), was marked by the issuance of a final joint communiqué.

In this communiqué, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have reaffirmed their principled position regarding the Moroccan Sahara issue which they consider an issue of the GCC as well, reiterating their support to the Moroccanity of the Sahara and to the autonomy plan presented by Morocco, as a basis of any solution to this artificial regional dispute.

They expressed, also, their rejection of any infringing on the higher interests of Morocco with regard to the serious indicators witnessed by the file in recent weeks.

Furthermore, the leaders of the GCC expressed their commitment to the common defense of the security and stability of their countries, and to the respect of the sovereignty of States, of their territorial integrity and their national values, as well as to the rejection of any attempt aiming at jeopardizing security and stability and at propagating separatism and division, with the purpose of restructuring maps of countries and of their partition, at the risk of threatening peace as well as regional and international security.

The full text of the joint communiqué is as follows:

1. Deriving from the strong relations and the solid historical ties between the leaders and peoples of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Kingdom of Morocco, and their belief in the importance of solidarity and complementarity between them.

2. A Summit was held, on April 20th, 2016, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between Their Majesties and Highnesses the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council and His Majesty King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco.

3. Their Majesties and Highnesses the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council and His Majesty the King of Morocco reiterated their firm belief in their unified destiny and goals, as well as their abidance by effective solidarity and sincere brotherhood on which exceptional historic relations between GCC member States and the Kingdom of Morocco are based.

4. This Summit was an opportunity to boost strategic partnership and coordination stance between GCC States and the Kingdom of Morocco for addressing the challenges and threats facing the Arab region, as well as to share views on international and regional issues of mutual interests.

5. The leaders expressed their satisfaction over continued progress in the joint action to achieve the goals of partnership in accordance with the work plan to boost human development and promote trade exchange and investments. They also insisted on the need to give this partnership a strong boost and develop its institutional aspect.

6. They also stressed their commitment to mutually defend their countries’ security and stability, and to respect their sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as their national constants. They also affirmed their rejection of any attempts aimed at undermining security and stability, and the dissemination of separatism and segregation to redraw the map of nations or splitting them, which threatens regional and international security and peace.

7. Based on these constants, the Summit stressed that the Kingdom of Morocco and the GCC’s countries constitute a strategic unified bloc, in the sense that what affects the security of any one of them affects the security of the other countries.

8. In this context, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council reiterated their principled position that the cause of the Moroccan Sahara is also the cause of the GCC countries. They affirmed their position supporting the fact that the Sahara is Moroccan and their support for the initiative of autonomy presented by Morocco, as the basis for any solution to this artificial regional dispute. They also expressed their rejection of any infringing on the higher interests of Morocco with regard to the serious indicators witnessed by the file in recent weeks.

9. In light of the political development and dangerous security threats in the Arab region, worsened by the failure to reach a solution to end the conflict in the Middle East and solve the crisis in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen, the Summit stressed the importance of concerted efforts to face these challenges with appropriate firmness and responsibility.

10.The leaders also renewed their condemnation of extremism and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasized not linking this dangerous scourge with any civilization or religion, and standing in the face of attempts to spread sectarianism that fuels strife and intends to interfere in the internal affairs of states. They called for the coordination of regional and international efforts to counter terrorism and its eradication and the elimination of its causes, stressing the importance of the Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism in supporting these efforts.

11.The Summit was a good opportunity to discuss the foundations for broader cooperation between the GCC, the Kingdom of Morocco and Sub-Saharan African countries, so as to promote security and stability and common interests.

12.Finally, Their Majesties and Highnesses stressed the importance of continuing consultation and coordination in order to support the pillars of the existing partnership between the GCC and the Kingdom of Morocco, in order to meet the aspirations of their peoples and serve the interests of the Arab and Islamic nations as well as to achieve international peace and security.

Done in Riyadh, on Wednesday 14 Rajab 1437, corresponding to April 20th, 2016.

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