Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met with the UK Secretary of State Wendy Morton visiting in Azerbaijan on 8 February.

Madame Speaker welcomed the visitor before mentioning Great Britain having been amongst the first countries to recognise the state independence of Azerbaijan and our political relations setting high standards.

The visits of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev and the esteemed President Ilham Aliyev to Great Britain had made massive contributions to the progress of the bilateral relations. In turn, high-ranking British delegations had visited Azerbaijan and a number of documents concerned with the bonds between the Azerbaijan Republic and the United Kingdom had been signed while they were in our country, Mrs Gafarova said. We would like the two parliaments to exchange visits actively, she added.

That we have the high-level political ties is bearing well on the economic interaction, too; our countries co-operate in the petroleum industry successfully. For instance, Mrs Gafarova noted, the operations of BP are well-known to the public at large.

Thanking for the cordial reception, Mrs Morton shared her impressions from the first visit to Azerbaijan and praised the meetings and discussions she had had during it.

Mrs Morton also commended the work done in Azerbaijan to discourage household violence and to regulate gender issues; she highlighted the great role of the Parliament in streamlining the pertaining legal frameworks.

In response, Mrs Gafarova spoke of the special attention paid to gender issues in Azerbaijan: women’s suffrage was granted in Azerbaijan back in 1918, which was the first occurrence of the kind in the Muslim Orient. Those matters were regulated with that time’s Constitution of the country during the Soviet Epoch; the equality of women and men was maintained throughout.

The state committee for family, women’s and children’s problems was established after our country had regained independence in 1991; that committee was to come to grips with gender matters, amongst others. Nowadays, the Azerbaijani women maintain profiles in various areas including state administration and the Parliament. The First Vice President of the Azerbaijan Republic Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva represents the Azerbaijani women to the highest standards through her large-scale activities; besides, she attends to the subject in point closely herself.

Going further, Madame Speaker said that the Milli Majlis had a specialist committee focused on family and women’s issues and that the Parliament had enacted a string of relevant laws. Our women MPs are actively involved in the international events on gender issues.

Mrs Gafarova and Mrs Morton went on to exchange opinions about other matters of mutual interest, too.

The Leader of the Milli Majlis Working Group for Interparliamentary Connections with Great Britain Javanshir Feyziyev, the ambassadors of both countries Tahir Taghizade and James Lyall Sharp and other officials were attending the meeting.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis