The Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met on 2 November with the delegation led by the former PM of Turkey and former Speaker of the Great National Assembly of Turkey, Turkish MP Binali Yildirim.

Welcoming the guests, the Chair said deep thanks to each delegation member for their visit at such a sensitive time to Azerbaijan before noting that our relationship based on the ‘one nation – two states’ principle was unparalleled around the world. We have the language, religion and culture in common; we have the same values, and we share successes and adversities alike, she added.

The Chair expressed the condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the earthquake in Izmir in Turkey, speaking on her own behalf as well as on behalf of the Azerbaijani MPs and the people of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani people share their grief, according to Mrs Gafarova.

Whilst speaking of the counter-offensive that followed yet another Armenian provocation committed in the Highland Garabagh province of Azerbaijan on 27 September, the Speaker said that Armenia that had held twenty per cent of our territory under occupation for 30 years had been evading the UN resolutions and the decisions of the influential international organisations relevant to the conflict. The work done by the Minsk Group tasked to solve the problem had had no result whatsoever. Now, however, Azerbaijan is busy freeing its lands from occupation independently.

‘We thank the Government and the People of Turkey for their political and moral support to us in this cause,’ Mrs Gafarova remarked.

Further, the Chair underscored the roles of the parliaments in the inter-state relations and commended on the work done by the friendship groups in the legislative bodies of both countries. She said that the exchanged MP visits and the intensive meetings that the two countries’ delegations to international organisations were having were serving the common cause.

As the meeting wore on, Sahiba Gafarova mentioned that not only the political but also the economic ties between our countries were on the rise. The two countries have signed as many as 249 documents to date. The volume of trade between Azerbaijan and Turkey reached US$4.5 bn last year and rose to US$3 bn during the past eight months of the current year despite the difficulties posed by the pandemic.

It was said then that Azerbaijan and Turkey were implementing the projects of global significance in the region and that such energy initiatives as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, TANAP and TAP as well as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line were the fruit of the joint exercise of will.

Recalling that Binali Yildirim had visited Azerbaijan more than once, Mrs Gafarova said she was certain that he would continue contributing to the deepening of the relations between our countries.

Mr Yildirim said his thanks for the heartfelt welcome and witnessed his satisfaction with yet another visit to our country as well as with the conversations he had had during it, adding that he and his delegation had come specifically to support Azerbaijan in its struggle with the Armenian occupiers for liberation of its territories. The guest emphasised that the independent Azerbaijan was ‘doing its job independently’ now because the UN resolutions concerned with the problem had remained on paper for long years. The 83-mn-strong Turkish people stand right next with their brother, Azerbaijan, in this righteous struggle.

Then, Binali Yildirim stressed that the four parties represented in the Turkish Parliament backed Azerbaijan unequivocally and that the visit of the Chairman of the GNAT Mustafa Sentop to Azerbaijan in general and to Ganja in particular mattered specifically in terms of supporting Azerbaijan. There will be more visits of high-ranking Turkish officials to our country before long, Mr Yildirim pointed out.

Sharing his thoughts about the energy and transport projects that our countries are furthering together, Mr Yildirim remarked that such co-operation bore well on the international reputation of each of the two countries.

The leader of the Azerbaijani-Turkish Friendship Group Ahliman Amiraslanov, the Azeri MP Malahat Ibrahimghizi, the leader of the GNAT Group for Friendship with Azerbaijan Shamil Ayrim, the Turkish MP Celal Adan and a member of the visiting Turkish delegation Gursad Zorlu spoke of the present day and the prospects of the Azerbaijani-Turkish brotherhood at the meeting.

The Press and Public Relations Department 
The Milli Majlis