The 56^th plenary sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States was held in Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyz Republic, on 17 November. Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova delivered a speech at this meeting.

Mentioning the fruitful inter-parliamentary co-operation that had gone on in every area since the previous sitting of the Assembly, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis remarked that the Inter-Parliamentary as one of the staples of the Commonwealth of Independent States contributed to the progress of bilateral and multilateral inter-parliamentary co-operation.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova unveiled the lies of the Armenian side as she continued her speech. The Speaker said that Azerbaijan had come up with the initiative of signing a peace treaty with Armenia, to be based on five principles of international law, having freed her own lands of Armenian occupation in 2020. However, Armenia which did recognise Garabagh as an Azerbaijani territory in word has in deed most deplorably been committing political and military provocations all the three years. Not fulfilling its obligations under the Trilateral Statement, Armenia had not withdrawn its armed forces from the Garabagh Region of Azerbaijan and continued carrying weapons, ammunition and military servicemen to it.

Sahiba Gafarova went further to remark that, apart from the more than a million mines planted during the period of occupation, Armenia had continued the mining in the already-freed territories. On 2 September this year the Armenian Prime Minister congratulated on the fake ‘Independence Day’ the separatist regime created by Armenia in the lawfully Azerbaijani territory and supported by Armenia actively. On 9 September, that illegal entity held the equally fictitious ‘presidential elections’. Having described those steps as provocative and having been levelled at Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis said about the deaths of 6 civilians and police officers in mine explosions on 19 September 2023 – those mines the Armenian armed forces had planted in our de-occupied lands deliberately. Overall, approximately 340 people have either been killed or wounded by mine explosions since the conclusion of the war.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis stressed as she was telling of the September 2023 anti-terrorist measures that those had pursued the goal of letting Azerbaijan restore her constitutional order and rendering harmless the illegal armed groups. The anti-terrorist measures that had been implemented within 23 hours had as results the complete disarmament of the Armenian troops in Garabagh, Azerbaijan having put paid to the separatist regime in Garabagh, again, and restored entirely her sovereignty over her own internationally recognised territory.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova highlighted the fact that Azerbaijan had acted completely in accordance with international humanitarian law in the course of the anti-terrorist measures. So, no damage was done to civilian population and civilian infrastructure whilst those measures had been carried out. Not a single fact of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and forcible deportation of Armenians from Garabagh had been put on record, either. That was confirmed by two UN missions that had visited the region.

Despite these commonly known facts, Armenia still continues deceiving international community with the false and groundless claims aimed at Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova said before she reiterated that the Armenian accusations were lies.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis also pinpointed the active continuation by Azerbaijan of the large-scale restoration and rebuilding work in the Garabagh Region freed of Armenian occupation. Former IDP have returned to the towns of Lachin and Fuzuli and to several villages already as part of the fulfilment of the Great Return programme. It is planned to return more than 140,000 people to Garabagh and East Zangazur before the end of 2026. There are good opportunities for the regional peace agenda today. The Speaker reminded the meeting participants that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev had repeatedly voiced support for normalisation of our country’s relations with Armenia and signing a peace agreement.

Stressing then the special role of the work done within the Assembly in a continued expansion of connexions amongst our states in various areas, Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova underscored the unique importance of the humanitarian aspect of the co-operation. It seriously fosters stronger mutual understanding and good neighbourhood amongst the CIS states. Azerbaijan, which is actively involved in this process, attaches a great importance to the interaction.

Having then said that the year 2023 had been declared the Year of Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova thanked the parliamentary delegations for their active participation in the special meeting of the Milli Majlis in honour of the centenary of the National Leader and creator of the independent Azerbaijani State Heydar Aliyev as well as for the numerous high-level events organised in their countries in this relation.

Besides, Sahiba Gafarova informed the plenary sitting participants of the Year of the Russian Language events conducted in Azerbaijan in 2023.

The 3^rd CIS Games are due to take place in Azerbaijan in 2025, the Speaker remembered, stressing that those Games were going to make a further input in the progress of future co-operation and successful interaction within the CIS space.

Sahiba Gafarova also offered her congratulations on the success of a referendum and extraordinary presidential election in Uzbekistan. She commented on other matters discussed at the plenary sitting as well.

It should be mentioned that Heads of Parliament of the CIS countries and rapporteurs spoke on diverse topics at the plenary meeting.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis