Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting on 11 December with the visiting delegation led by Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili.

After greeting Mr Papuashvili and the members of the delegation Sahiba Gafarova recalled fondly her official visit to Georgia in April last year and the guest’s attendance of the special Grand Leader Heydar Aliyev Centenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament in May this year. Mrs Gafarova said that the relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia, the two neighbours, friendly states and partners, were rooted in the will of our nations that have lived in amity and good neighbourhood for centuries.

According to the Speaker of the Milli Majlis, the bilateral ties have evolved into a strategic partnership throughout the past years. The high-level and summit visits play a serious role in the furtherance of the relationship. The dynamic of reciprocal visits of the Heads of State demonstrates what great importance they attach to this relationship.

The joint activities of Azerbaijan and Georgia in international organisations including their constant mutual support over the topics of territorial integrity and sovereignty, and their demonstrated solidarity were mentioned with satisfaction during the conversation.

As she spoke of the bilateral inter-parliamentary relations, Chair Sahiba Gafarova mentioned the very effective co-operation between our legislatures. There are friendship groups active in both legislative assemblies; our delegations support each other in inter-parliamentary entities.

Then, the necessity of strengthening the relations between parliamentary committees and the memorandum of co-operation that the two sides’ Culture Committees had signed were talked of. And so was the arrangement reached by the Committees to continue broadening their co-operation in other areas.

The conversation touched on the bilateral inter-parliamentary co-operation as well as the fruitful trilateral interaction format bringing together the Foreign Relations Committees of the legislatures of Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Georgia.

Further, they broached Azerbaijan’s victory in the 44-day Patriotic War that had culminated in the restoration of our country’s territorial integrity, and the post-war situation in the region. As she spoke of those, Sahiba Gafarova remarked that no obstacles were left for a peace treaty to be signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Azerbaijan is ready for peace and trusts that the treaty of peace will be signed soon.

Turning to the forthcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan on 7 February 2024 then, Mrs Gafarova said that the main distinctive feature of these elections in comparison with the previous ones would be that they would be held all over the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.

Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili thanked for the invitation to visit Azerbaijan before sharing his impressions of the conversation he had had with President Ilham Aliyev today. Mr Papuashvili also underscored the significance of the relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan which, he said, were rooted in history and were setting the standards of a strategic partnership today.

According to the guest, the progress of the relations between our countries provides for their security and regional security alike but also bears well on the well-being of their nations. The bilateral projects incepted by Heydar Aliyev and being implemented successfully today bear fruit; meanwhile, new projects are added to them.

The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament described the presidential elections due in Azerbaijan in February 2024 as historic and said that they were equally as significant for his country. He wished Azerbaijan success and said that Georgia advocated the signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia soon.

Then, Shalva Papuashvili talked about the need to promoting a continued growth of our inter-legislature connexions, broadening co-operation amongst parliamentary committees of the two sides and boosting the activities of the friendship groups. He also shared his ideas about the prospects of the inter-parliamentary co-operation.

Other matters of shared interest were talked over, too, as the meeting continued. 

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis