During her official visit to the Republic of Türkiye, Speaker of the Milli Mejlis Sahiba Gafarova has met with Speaker of the Great National Assembly of Turkey Numan Kurtulmuş.

Initially, a private meeting was held between the parliamentary leaders. They exchanged views on the high level of relations between our brotherly countries and parliaments.

The meeting then continued with the participation of delegations.

Warmly welcoming the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation, Numan Kurtulmuş once again congratulated Sahiba Gafarova on her election as Speaker of the Milli Mejlis.

He emphasised that the relations between the two brotherly countries are at a high level and noted that with the adoption of the Shusha Declaration, our ties have entered a new phase.

Expressing gratitude to the Speaker of the Great National Assembly of Turkey for the invitation to pay the official visit and for hospitality, Speaker of the Milli Mejlis Sahiba Gafarova reiterated that she was delighted to be in a brotherly country.

Recalling that Azerbaijan had held extraordinary parliamentary elections on 1 September, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova emphasised their key feature – for the first time, parliamentary elections were conducted across the entire sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.

After Sahiba Gafarova’s re-election as Speaker of the Milli Mejlis, Speaker of the Great National Assembly of Türkiye Numan Kurtulmuş was the first to congratulate her. Sahiba Gafarova expressed satisfaction that, in keeping with established tradition, her first official visit after re-election was to the brotherly country of Türkiye.

The brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye that rest on the shared language, history and religion as well as national and spiritual values represent the highest value for us – the immortal words of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, ‘One nation – two states,’ are being confirmed in the most vivid manner, continued Sahiba Gafarova. As President Ilham Aliyev said, there are no other countries as close to each other as Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

It was emphasised during the conversation that the most important characteristic of the relationship between the two brotherly countries is that they and their peoples stand together both in joy and in sorrow. The Shusha Declaration is the official expression and seal of this union.

The exceptional contribution of the Heads of State to achieving the current level of relations was particularly noted. Their personal friendship and brotherhood, political will and determination have ensured the current high level of bilateral ties, the interlocutors agreed.

 The contribution of parliaments to the further development of brotherly relations between our countries was highly praised at the meeting. The two Speakers emphasised that the co-operation between the legislative assemblies contributes to an even greater rapprochement of brotherly peoples as well as the transmission of shared values to future generations, while simultaneously corresponding to the spirit of alliance between the two countries. Our parliaments collaborate both on a bilateral basis and in a trilateral format and also carry out joint activities in international parliamentary organisations.

Issues related to a continued broadening of the co-operation between our legislatures, friendship groups and parliamentary committees were reviewed next.

The meeting was over and followed by the official greeting of Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova in the plenary chamber of the Great National Assembly of Türkiye.

Then, the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation went to the parts of the GNAT damaged in the attempted coup of 15 July 2016.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis