Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting on 6 June with a delegation of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ahmed Attaf.

Welcoming cordially the guest who had come to Azerbaijan for the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Co-ordination Bureau, Speaker Gafarova underscored the importance of that meeting held in Baku, and added that such gatherings served as productive platforms for discussion of many issues outstanding on the international and bilateral agendas.

Bilateral friendship and shared values were noted duly; the current level of the relations between our countries is a source of satisfaction, according to Ms Gafarova who went further to mention the support Algeria had given us in the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation at the time of the conflict with Armenia. She also highlighted Algeria’s participation in the Azerbaijani initiatives during the Algerian chairmanship of the NAM.

The bilateral diplomatic relations are turning thirty years in 2024; Azerbaijan finds the furtherance of her relations with Algeria to be of great importance, Sahiba Gafarova then pointed out.

Madam Speaker also talked about the importance of high-level visits and meetings for the progress of the bilateral relations, and referred to the visit of the late President of Algeria Abdelkader Bensalah to Azerbaijan in October 2019 and the trip of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to Algeria to participate in the 31st Summit of the League of Arab States in November 2022.

As she commented favourably on the current state of our inter-legislature relations, Mrs Gafarova recalled fondly the participation of the leader of the Algerian Parliament Ibrahim Boughali in the First Conference (held in Baku) of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement, an entity established on the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the NAM Ilham Aliyev. Mrs Gafarova also mentioned her conversation with Mr Boughali during her working trip to Algeria to attend the 17^th session of the conference of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States in January this year.

The conversation went on to the tasks set to the parliamentary friendship groups in the context of promoting co-operation between our parliaments. Sahiba Gafarova stressed the necessity of regular mutual visits of the groups’ members and of a wide exchange of opinions on co-operation. In her opinion, interaction between parliamentary committees of the two sides will also have a positive impact on the bilateral relations.

Also, Sahiba Gafarova brought up the speech of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at yesterday's ministerial meeting, the speech in which he recounted the 30-year occupation of our territories by Armenia, the 44-day Patriotic War, the large-scale reconstruction work in the liberated territories and the post-conflict situation in the region. Our country is committed to the peace agenda and proposed to Armenia to sign the relevant agreement after the war. Any steps to the detriment of the peace process are unacceptable, Mrs Gafarova stressed.

The Algerian guest thanked for the reception and praised President Ilham Aliyev’s speech at the ministerial gathering of the NAM Co-ordination Bureau. He also congratulated Azerbaijan on the resolute steps she had taken to combat COVID-19 despite the complicated international situation upon taking over the leadership in the NAM. The establishment of the NAM’s Youth Organisation and Parliamentary Network specifically at the time of the Azerbaijani presidency in the Organisation came as historic decisions, in the opinion of Mr Attaf who then wished those two entities further achievements.

Mr Attaf supported Mrs Gafarova’s ideas about the growth prospects of our countries’ bilateral relations and said confidently that appropriate steps would be taken to achieve that perspective growth.

According to the Algerian minister, the non-permanent Algerian membership in the UN SC next year will focus on stopping armed conflicts around the world and keeping peace and stability.

Other matters of shared interest were discussed during the meeting as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis