Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Co-operation and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco Nasser Bourita on 15 December as part of her current official visit to that country.

Minister Bourita remarked that Azerbaijan is a brotherly country to Morocco before he underlined the dynamic advancement of the connexions between our countries. According to Mr Bourita, both Morocco and Azerbaijan are important subjects in their respective regions, and Morocco regards Azerbaijan as an important partner in the region.

It was said at the meeting that our countries always support each other on matters of territorial integrity and sovereignty. Minister Nasser Bourita said his congratulations on Azerbaijan’s regained territorial integrity and restored sovereignty.

Having said that our nations shared similar values, Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova confirmed the idea that Azerbaijan and Morocco are fraternal countries. She also underscored the importance of promoting this brotherhood towards a comprehensive partnership.

According to Minister Nasser Bourita, it will be thirty years next year since the visit of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev to Morocco and his meeting with the late King of Morocco Hassan II. Speaking in connexion with that historically remarkable event, Mr Bourita voiced the intention to strengthen the Azerbaijani-Moroccan relations and to transform our relations from brotherhood and partnership.

Then, Minister Nasser Bourita touched upon the successful Azerbaijani chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova informed him of the global initiatives of our country as Chair of the Movement. She highlighted the active participation of the parliament of Morocco in the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement that had been incepted on the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova told Prime Minister Nasser Bourita about the meetings and conversations that had taken place during her first official visit to the Kingdom of Morocco as Head of the Azerbaijani Parliament. Also were mentioned the on-going development of the links between our supreme legislative bodies and the necessity of a continuous expansion of co-operation among our parliamentary committees and friendship groups.

As she was sharing her thoughts about the current level of the inter-country relations, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova referred to the economic relations as one of the main components of the bilateral relations in general. The significance of the work done by the Inter-Governmental Commission was mentioned in this respect.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis also brought up the importance of broadening the treaty and legal framework of the bilateral relations and put forth her ideas regarding promotion of the links between the two countries in several fields.

Ways to bolster grassroots contacts and to broaden tourism co-operation and co-operation between the business communities of Azerbaijan and Morocco were discussed, too. Mrs Gafarova and Mr Bourita exchanged views upon the energy-sector co-operation prospects and broached the issues related to development of transport co-operation.

Furthermore, the Chair of the Milli Majlis let the Prime Minister of Morocco know of the situation in our region in the post-conflict period, the restoration work apace in the de-occupied territories, the peace initiatives of our country and the trust-building measures between Azerbaijan and Armenia that have been undertaken of late.

The meeting also saw an exchange of opinions about other matters of shared interest.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis