As reported earlier, the parliamentary delegation led by Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova have been in Rome on an official visit on the Italian side’s invitation since 17 May.

As part of the visit, the Chair of the Milli Majlis met with Chair of the Senate of Italy Ms Maria Elisabetta Alberti-Casellati at Palazzo Giustiniani on 18 May. The Chair of the Italian Senate welcomed Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova and her delegation and said that Italy was interested in furthering the relations with Azerbaijan. Ms Alberti-Casellati recalled her visit to Baku in 2018 and expressed a satisfaction with the high level of both interstate and interparliamentary relations between the two countries. She made a point of emphasising that the Italian-Azerbaijani relations kept setting high standards despite the hazardous complications brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Then, the Italian Speaker said it was gratifying that peace had been maintained in the region and mentioned the steady and purposeful development of Azerbaijan. She especially lauded the achievements made in the economic realm and underlined the significance of the projects undertaken by Azerbaijan, notably, of the TAP, which Ms Alberti-Casellati described as a bridge to Europe. She went further to say that though a country rich in oil and gas, Azerbaijan had its economy advance in a diversified fashion, which she said she could eyewitness once again as she visited our country back in 2018.

The Speaker of the Italian Parliament voiced her special compliments on the deeds done by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation led by Azerbaijan’s First Vice President Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva. Ms Alberti-Casellati emphasised the importance of the cultural co-operation and said it was a bridge connecting nations.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova thanked the Chair of the Senate for the hospitality and the invitation to pay an official visit to Italy; she also spoke of the dramatic role that reciprocal visits played in the furtherance of the mutual relations.

Sahiba Gafarova then talked about the currently high level of the bilateral relations and the tremendous part that the exchanged visits of the two state leaders in 2018 and 2020 had played in adding dynamism to the progress of the relations.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis also brought up the outstanding role in the furtherance of the Azerbaijan Republic’s First Vice President Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva. Then, Mrs Gafarova underlined the importance of 2020 having been declared The Year of the Azerbaijani Culture in Italy and the arrangement of film festivals.

Talking about the interparliamentary relations next, the Chair of the Milli Majlis remarked that they were at a high level now and that there was also the satisfactory linkage between the friendship groups in both countries’ parliaments.

As the 44-day Patriotic War was touched upon then, the Chair of the Milli Majlis pointed out that the Garabagh Conflict had been resolved and made history already and that Azerbaijan had put an end to the 30-year occupation as well as enforced, all by itself, the resolutions of the UN Security Council. Inasmuch as the present time is concerned, Azerbaijan is busy restoring its lands recovered from the occupiers. The Chair of the Milli Majlis told of the destruction, razing of towns to the ground and demolition of cultural and historic heritage by Armenia in the lands that Armenia had kept in captivity for almost 30 years. Sahiba Gafarova also highlighted another war crime Armenia is committing, to wit, the reluctance of Armenia to release minefield maps. Civilians and servicemen lose their lives as a result, Mrs Gafarova noted before saying that the international community should put pressure on Armenia about that matter because evasion of the minefield maps’ disclosure and the refusal to release them is a war crime by all the standards of the international laws.

Sahiba Gafarova then referred to the environment of tolerance and multiculturalism in our country; she said that Azerbaijan was an example for a number of countries to follow in this regard.

Respecting Armenia’s attempts to make terrorists appear to be prisoners of war, there are no POWs in Azerbaijan because Azerbaijan had handed them all over, whereas the people held in Azerbaijan are terrorists, according to the Chair of the Milli Majlis. They are terrorists because they were planted in the territory of Azerbaijan to commit provocations after the signing of the trilateral statement of 10 November.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis thanked all the representatives of the Italian Parliament who had supported the just stance of Azerbaijan during the Patriotic War.

The present state and development prospects of the bilateral interparliamentary relations were discussed at the meeting, too.

The Press and Public Relations
Department The Milli Majlis