Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova took part, in the course of her current work trip to Kyrgyz Republic, in the international conference organised in honour of the 85^th anniversary of the Kyrgyz legislature – the Zhogorku Kengesh (Supreme Council).

Chairman of the Kyrgyz Supreme Council Nurlanbek Shakiyev greeted the Head of the Milli Majlis and leaders of the other participating national parliamentary delegations.

Sahiba Gafarova delivered a speech at the conference; she also voiced congratulations on the 85^th anniversary of the Zhogorku Kengesh.

Saying that both Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan had negotiated their respective considerable paths of progress during the years of independence, the Chair of the Milli Majlis added that the co-operation between our countries had built up on traditionally mutually beneficial partnership and in the spirit of amity since the very moment the bilateral diplomatic relations were arranged. This interaction has continued successfully in political, trade and economic as well as other areas throughout.

The Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz diplomatic relations turned 30 years in 2023. The friendship of the two countries that is rooted in many centuries is broadening in the interests of the Azerbaijani and Kyrgyz nations. Reciprocal visits of the Heads of State play considerable parts in the dynamics of high-status meetings and in strengthening as well as deepening the fruitful two-way links. The Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament mentioned in this regard the official visit of President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan to Azerbaijan in April last year and the Declaration of Strategic Partnership and the Memorandum on the Establishment of the Inter-State Council that were both signed during that visit. Mrs Gafarova also emphasised the state visit of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to Kyrgyzstan in October last year, saying that the bilateral treaty legal framework created by the present time indicates the successful advancement of the Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz relations in the spirit of strategic partnership and alliance.

Continuing her speech, the Chair of the Milli Majlis recalled as one of the factors of positive impact on the bilateral and multilateral connexions between our countries the interaction between their legislatures. There is an efficient co-operation afoot between them and there are fine opportunities to deepen that co-operation further. The Memorandum of Co-operation between the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Zhogorku Kengesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, inked in Baku in July 2011, serves the cause of promoting a continued progress of our inter-parliamentary relations. Having said that, Sahiba Gafarova remarked that the said memorandum would continue fostering a further deepening of the linkage between our legislative assemblies. It was said, besides, that Azerbaijani and Kyrgyz MPs interacted energetically in the parliamentary assemblies of various international organisations, such as the CIS IPA, the Turkic States’ PA, the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, the Asian Parliamentary Assembly and so forth.

Referring to the fact that the peoples of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have always had affinity for each other and that today both states remained true to the ancestral traditions, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova added that the humanitarian co-operation based on the closeness and common cultural values of the two nations was taking on special significance and essence as it made the bonds of friendship between our states stronger. The opening of the Kyrgyz-Azerbaijani Friendship Park and the educational complex of Heydar Aliyev School-Gymnasium No 20 in Bishkek last October during the state visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Kyrgyzstan is the brightest evidence of this. Our states, having the common culture, language and national roots, are increasing interaction in all the covered areas, Sahiba Gafarova said.

It should be mentioned that the Heads of Parliament of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and several other countries are attending this international conference and have delivered speeches at it as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis