The Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met on 12 November with the visiting delegation led by the Vice President of the French-Azerbaijani friendship group in the French Parliament Jerome Lambert.

The Speaker touched on the rich history of the Azerbaijani-French relations, the continued extension of which is in a great way due to the endeavours of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan is continuing that policy successfully now whilst the First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva has contributed lavishly to the progress of the bilateral relations. She played a vast part in deepening the relations between the two parliaments when she was chairing the Azerbaijani-French friendship group in the Milli Majlis. It is not for nothing that she was decorated with France’s National Order of the Legion of Honour specifically for her achievements in this particular field.

Talking about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Highland Garabagh, the Speaker told the visitors that the Army of Azerbaijan had launched a counter-offensive following yet another provocation by Armenia on 27 September and had proceeded to restore the national territorial wholeness in Highland Garabagh. Mrs Gafarova remarked with regret that, despite our diverse relations, the French side in general and the Chairman of the French-Azerbaijani friendship group in particular seemed to have failed to state their support to the just position of Azerbaijan in the matter. Quite on the contrary, several high-ranking French officials had elected to express certain thoughts backing the occupation policy of Armenia. And as regards the latest statement of France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, it is at odds with France’s mandate as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in the first place whilst also being altogether biased by nature. Understandably, all this gives rise to well-founded indignation in the Azerbaijani society. Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity in keeping with the norms and principles of the international law. That was the lawful right of our country, Mrs Gafarova stressed before saying that she trusted that the opinions the members of the French delegation had voiced at their meetings during the current visit would be repeated in the National Assembly of France eventually. Besides, Mrs Gafarova expressed a confidence that the current visit of the French delegation was going to create a new momentum behind the progress of the mutual relations.

The Vice President of the French-Azerbaijani friendship group in the French Parliament Jerome Lambert remarked that he had arrived in our country as a friend and that the independent Azerbaijan’s friends in France rejoiced at the restoration of the territorial integrity of the country.

The visitor underscored the vast importance he perceives in continuing the progress of the Interparliamentary relations from now on as well as in the relations per se. He praised the input of the First Vice President Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva to the growth of the bilateral ties. According to Mr Lambert, the friendship group members intend to communicate to the French society and to their colleagues both what they had seen during the visit to Azerbaijan and the opinions of the Azerbaijani side. Talking of the importance of exchanging visits, Mr Lambert highlighted the significance of such meetings in gaining close acquaintance with current processes in the region and in exchanging information.

The members of the French-Azerbaijan friendship group then commented on the advancement of the Interparliamentary bonds and on the current developments in the South Caucasus.

Other matters of shared interest were talked about during the meeting as well.

 The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis