Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova took part in the online meeting of the leaders of several countries’ parliaments ‘The Role of Parliamentarians in Strengthening International Peace and Trust’ that was organised on 28 April on the initiative of the Parliament of Turkmenistan.

The Speaker said that national parliaments, too, were taking on special importance alongside international and regional parliamentary organisations in strengthening peace and trust in the current globalising environment. Solving the global problems encountered by the humankind depends in very many respects on co-operation amongst national parliaments, bilateral as well as under the aegis of international and regional organisations. Today, interparliamentary co-operation must support countries in establishing peace and stability in the international arena, addressing the most pressing global political problems and observing the international law standards.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis remarked then that the silence and inactivity of the international community that Azerbaijan was met with during the almost 30-year-long occupation of its lands by Armenia bore witness to the existence of double standards in the modern world. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan that flared back to life last year culminated in the 44-day Patriotic War that ended the occupation of 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan by the Armenian armed forces; that, in turn, brought the new realia to our region.

The joint statement of the President of Azerbaijan, the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of Armenia dated 10 November 2020 about cessation of fire and hostilities is an important milestone in terms of securing peace and starting a new phase of co-operation in the region.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova quoted the high appraisal of this statement by President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and stressed its importance for the maintenance of lasting peace and for the continued progress of the region alike. In his speeches, the President of Azerbaijan emphasised the emergence of new post-war opportunities of co-operation, opening communications and building transport corridors in the region.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis went further to say that Azerbaijan had begun practical steps to eliminate the occupation consequences in the liberated territories.

Responding to the unfounded and misleading claim of Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan that the speaker of the parliament of Armenia A Mirzoyan had made in the course of the meeting, the Chair of the Milli Majlis remarked regretfully that the chairman of the Armenian parliament again kept up the rhetoric of conflict and hatred. Azerbaijan had honoured its obligations subject to the trilateral statement while Armenia still continues sending subversive groups in the freed territories of Azerbaijan in blatant violation of the Joint Statement of 10 November 2020 and with the intent of undermining peace and security in the region. Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova emphasised that the citizens of Armenia apprehended in the course of the counter-terrorist operation conducted by the State Security Service and the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan could be regarded as prisoners of war.

The Speaker then recalled that Armenia itself was sending terrorists of the Armenian extraction from various countries including Syria, Lebanon and several European states to the conflict zone all through the 44-day war. Azerbaijan, though, was able to purge its territories of diversion groups, militants and terrorists; it was also able to restore both justice and the wholeness of its national territory and, in fact, to enforce independently the 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council the implementation mechanism for which had sadly never been used.

In reaction to the accusations of terrorism that the speaker of the Armenian parliament had levelled at Azerbaijan, Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova mentioned that the armed forces of Armenia committed an act of genocide in the Azerbaijani town of Khojali in 1992. As many as 613 Azerbaijani civilians were killed due to their ethnicity; 1,275 townspeople were captured and the fate of almost 70 women and 26 children of their number remains shrouded to date.

The other speakers at the meeting were Chair of the Majlis of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gulshat Mammadova, Chair of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China Li Zhanshu, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Zinaida Greceanîi, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Sadiq Sanjrani, Chairman of the Great National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop, Chairman of the Assembly of Representatives of the Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Tajikistan Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda Zoir, Chair of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva, the speaker of the parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov, Deputy Chair of the Joğorqu Keñeş (parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic Aida Kasimaliyeva and Chairman of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Nurinjon Ismoilov.

Besides, the meeting participants watched the video addresses by Speaker of the House of Representatives in the National Diet of Japan Tadamori Ōshima, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Park Byeong-seug and Chairman of the House of Elders of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Izdyar.

Issues of future co-operation on the discussed matters were brought up during the meeting.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis