Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova visited the Belarusian State University in Minsk. There, the Head of the Azerbaijani Parliament was welcomed by Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalia Kochanova and Rector of the University Andrei Korol.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting with the Rector of the Belarusian State University Andrey Korol which Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalia Kochanova also attended.

After the meeting, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova spoke to the faculty and students of the Belarusian State University.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis talked about the centuries-old history and traditions of statehood of the Azerbaijani people, their tolerance and multicultural values, the proclamation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its contribution to history.

The Speaker also talked of the difficulties Azerbaijan faced during the first years after regaining her state independence on 18 October 1991, saying that it was only with the coming to power of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev that stability was established in our country and the process of establishment of legal independent state and development of oil strategy underlying the political-economic reforms to turn independent Azerbaijan into a modern, strong state, began. At the same time, effective management of oil revenues and Azerbaijan's entry into a new stage of development began.

According to Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, our country is living through a new phase of economic, social, political and cultural progress today, implemented successfully by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. The main goal of this stage is to ensure sustainability of development in the long term. The Speaker of the Milli Majlis referred to the purposeful socio-economic reforms implemented in the country over the past period, the major projects implemented at the initiative of Azerbaijan, such mega projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Southern Gas Corridor, the implementation of large-scale projects in the field of transport infrastructure in Azerbaijan as well as the transformation of our country into one of the main international transport and logistics hubs in the context of the international transport artery Middle Corridor and the North-South gas pipeline. She also covered Azerbaijan’s moves to ensure the clean environment and develop green energy.

Informing the participants of the event of Azerbaijan's election as the host of the 29^th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Baku in November this year, the Speaker said that this is a recognition of Azerbaijan's efforts in addressing climate change not only at the national, but also at the regional and global levels. As suggested by the leadership of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the latter organisation will combine with the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the planned arrangement of a parliamentary meeting at the COP29 conference.

Talking about the place and role of Azerbaijan in the modern system of international relations, the Speaker noted that for more than 30 years Azerbaijan had been doing its best to protect the principles of international law and justice as a responsible member of the United Nations. She mentioned our country’s impermanent membership of the UN Security Council during 2012-2013 and the chairmanship in 2019-2023 in the Non-Aligned Movement, the second largest international organisation after the UN. Also were mentioned our country’s important moves regarding the Movement’s institutional growth during the chairmanship tenure, Azerbaijan’s initiatives  to enhance the NAM’s parliamentary dimension and the emergence and sustenance of the NAM Parliamentary Network.

In her speech, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis also spoke about the occupation of 20 per cent of the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan by Armenia for almost 30 years, the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions and the norms and principles of international law by Azerbaijan using her own forces only consequent to the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020, the restoration of her own territorial integrity and historical justice, and in September last year also the full assertion of Azerbaijan's sovereignty over her entire territory following the results of the local antiterrorist operations. She also spoke about the start of large-scale reconstruction works in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation after the end of the Second Garabagh War, the restoration of all infrastructure destroyed during the occupation, the construction of ‘smart cities’ and ‘smart villages’ as well as international airports in Garabagh and East Zangazur, which were declared ‘green energy’ zones, and the return of former migrants to their lands.

In her speech, Sahiba Gafarova touched upon the relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus, saying that the advancement of relations covers a rather long historical period. Today, the relations between the two countries are at a new stage of development and have the character of strategic partnership. According to Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, an important role in the formation and development of bilateral relations is played by high-level dialogue and mutual understanding between the heads of state. The counter official visits of the heads of state are important events that clearly show the importance we attach to the development of relations between our countries. The official visit of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Belarus in November 2018 was a new step forward in the bilateral relations. In turn, the state visit of President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to Azerbaijan in May this year undoubtedly gave a new impetus to the development of the bilateral relations.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said then that one of the important and positive factors influencing bilateral and multilateral relations between the countries was the interaction of their parliaments. Today, there is very effective co-operation established between the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Belarus both at the bilateral level and in inter-parliamentary organisations.

Also speaking at the event, Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalia Kochanova voiced favourable thoughts about the relations between our countries and peoples.

Then Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova signed the commemorative book of the Belarusian State University.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis