During her official visit to the United Kingdom, Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has had a meeting with MP Bob Blackman of the House of Commons who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Azerbaijan as well as the Group’s members.

Sahiba Gafarova spoke of the successful advance of the relations between our countries and recalled both the United Kingdom being one of the first Western democracies to recognise the independence of Azerbaijan as well as this year having been the thirtieth since the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic. The interaction that has progressed all those years has given birth to extensive co-operation opportunities in many areas but especially so in the economic and energy sectors. Great Britain is one of our staple trade partners and the leading investor in Azerbaijan. Mrs Gafarova highlit British companies’ operations in our liberated territories, especially their involvement in the on-going humanitarian de-mining and the accompanying productive co-operation. Mrs Gafarova said she was certain that those efforts were going to make the bilateral ties stronger yet.

Our parliaments give this on-going evolution an added momentum; there are good relations amongst the parliamentarians that are manifest in both bilateral and multilateral aspects of our interaction. Each legislature has a friendship group engaged in fruitful activities. Our delegations keep in touch and collaborate on certain matters in the international organisations, too. As for exchanged visits, they solidify our connexions further and, a propos, the first ever visit to the UK of speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament is bound to contribute to the development of the legislatures’ relations. Sahiba Gafarova also recalled with pleasure the arrival of the delegation led by MP Blackman in 2021, stressing its importance for the dialogue between the Azerbaijani and British parliaments – the dialogue that is contributing uniquely to the broadening of the nations’ relationship based on friendship and mutual respect.

The All-Party Group members were filled in on Azerbaijan’s victory in the Patriotic War with the subsequent restoration of the national territorial wholeness, the new situation in the South Caucasus and Azerbaijan’s having settled the once-present conflict all by her own. There is no conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in existence anymore, Sahiba Gafarova remarked as she continued her account to tell the British MPs that Armenia had destroyed all the towns and villages, vandalised the heritage and historical artefacts, and got obscene on places of worship deliberately throughout the years of occupation. The delegation led by Bob Blackman could eye-witness the destruction and the traces of the committed atrocities as they came round in November last year and went on to travel to Fuzuli and Shusha. Azerbaijan started large-scale restoration and re-construction there relying on her own devices immediately after those provinces had been rid of occupation. The whole infrastructure that had been demolished during the occupation is being restored from scratch. New towns are laid in Garabagh and East Zangazur. Intent on securing constant peace and stability in the region, Azerbaijan had offered Armenia to sign a peace treaty that would envisage mutual recognition of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the beginning of delimitation and demarcation of the borders, reopening of all the regional communications and normalisation of the relations. That offer has remained unanswered to date, though. It is to be hoped that Armenia will honour its obligations this once, will demonstrate a constructive approach and go for normalisation of the relations upon the said principles, if only because this is the only path that leads to tangible peace and to true stability in the region, Mrs Gafarova concluded.

MP Bob Blackman welcomed the Azerbaijani delegation to the UK heartily, mentioned his several trips to our country with him noticing sweeping changes on each arrival, emphasised that Azerbaijan had freed nothing but her own lands of occupation and told about the current energetic restoration work done by the Azerbaijani Government. The leader of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Azerbaijan also mentioned our country’s efforts to achieve constant peace in the region.

The members of both sides’ parliamentary friendship groups talked about the need to deepen the co-operation, the contribution to making the relations stronger to come from the visit of the Chair of the Milli Majlis to the UK and about other things. The necessity of such group-to-group meetings and of exchanging visits was underlined, too.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova also met with the British PM’s Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan Baroness Emma Nicholson and the Co-Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace and Security Baroness Jenkin and Baroness Hodgson.

The leader of the parliament brought their attention to the daily evolution of the economic and trading links between Great Britain and Azerbaijan, a friendly partner-state. It was said, besides, that the new reality established following the conclusion of the 44 days’ Patriotic War, the current reclamation of the liberated lands and the efforts being made to reopen lines of communication generate splendid opportunities to deepen the co-operation with the European countries in general and the UK in particular.

Sahiba Gafarova gave a thorough account of the protection of the Azerbaijani women’s rights and the state policy on gender matters; she also broached the subject of women’s involvement in the social and political life of the country and in her state governance agencies today. Azerbaijan, which had established the first republic of the Muslim East at the dawn of last century, granted women the suffrage at that time whereas today women are represented in the national parliament and hold various positions in the government. In general, the relevant reforms and a purposeful policy continue today.

There was also an exchange of opinions about the eventual progress of the inter-parliamentary connexions, women’s role in keeping peace and tranquillity world-wide and other matters of shared interest.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis