Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting with Prime Minister of Cambodia Akka Moha Sena Padei Teko Hun Sen on 24 November as part of her official visit to that country.

Mr Sen thanked Mrs Gafarova cordially and congratulated her on the Milli Majlis’ admission to the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly as an observer.

PM Sen recalled his travel to Azerbaijan in 2014, shared the pleasant impressions he had from Baku and added that he had been to our country back in the 1980s, too, which is when he had had two encounters with our National Leader Heydar Aliyev. He proceeded to described Heydar Aliyev as a statesman recognised internationally and one that did so much for the progress of the Azerbaijani State.

Cambodia wishes to promote its relations with Azerbaijan in various areas; it is important that both sides would co-operate in international organisations including the Non-Aligned Movement of which they are both members. Mr Sen referred to the successful Azerbaijani chairmanship of this organisation and underlined the significance of the emergence of its Parliamentary Network at the suggestion of the president of Azerbaijan.

In turn, the Chair Gafarova voiced her satisfaction with the visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia and the discussions held here; she offered her gratitude for the hospitality extended to her as well.

The interaction between our legislatures bears well on the inter-state relations in that it is making them stronger; our bilateral and multilateral inter-parliamentary connexions are advancing whilst our parliamentarians join forces via the channels of the friendship groups – all those are really rather important, according to Sahiba Gafarova.

She told the Cambodian PM about the large-scale projects implemented by Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan’s initiatives aiming to achieve solution of global matters as well as the work done since the start of the Azerbaijani presidency in the Non-Aligned Movement. The initiative to develop the parliamentary aspect of the organisation had come from the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the NAM Parliamentary Network was established accordingly in 2021. Mrs Gafarova filled Mr Sen in on the work of the NAM PN as well as its perspective work scope and efforts being made to strike up co-operation with other inter-parliamentary institutions.

Besides, Mrs Gafarova told about the historic victory that Azerbaijan had gained in the Patriotic War, the Azerbaijani lands’ liberation from thirty decades of captivity and our side’s endeavours to keep up peace and stability in our region. Armenia keeps eschewing its assumed obligations and putting spokes in the wheels of regional peace-making though two years has elapsed since the end of the war. During those thirty years of occupation, Armenia subjected all the then captured Azerbaijani towns and provinces, their infrastructure and cultural as well as historical artefacts and sites to complete destruction. Azerbaijan is pressing on with large-scale restoration work in her liberated areas that are coming round now. But that work is greatly hindered by the multitudes of mines planted in those lands by Armenia. Suffice to say, nearly 270 Azerbaijanis have either been killed or injured by mine explosions in the two years since the war’s end.

Other matters of shared concern were talked over at the conversation as well, and it was capped by Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova presenting Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen with the book Garabagh: Before and After the Occupation.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis