Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova, currently in Istanbul for the 16^th conference of the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (PUIC), had a meeting with Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop on 9 December.

The heartfelt greetings from Mr Şentop were followed by his saying he was glad of meeting the Azerbaijani delegation. The head of the Turkish parliament went further to emphasise the new opportunities generated in Garabagh and in the whole of the South Caucasus by Azerbaijan’s victory in the 44 days’ Patriotic War, and underlined that victory’s significance for the region’s development, emergence of new opportunities as well as peace and co-operation. Mr Şentop also touched on the restoration and rebuilding of the de-occupied Azerbaijani lands, saying that the eventual launch of the Zangazur Corridor would open new horizons and bear well on all the Turkic states. It was said also that the relations of the two brotherly countries, their unity and solidarity would abide henceforth.

Sahiba Gafarova thanked for the invitation to the PUIC conference and the cordial reception she had met with, before saying that she and the members of the accompanying delegation felt very much at home in Turkey. The bonds of amity and fraternity that hold Azerbaijan and Turkey together have the most solid roots whilst the personal friendship of the two states’ heads had in many respects factored in reaching today’s high level of mutual relations, Mrs Gafarova added.

The leader of the Milli Majlis expressed the gratitude to the Turkish side for the support given to the inaugural assembly of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement that the Azerbaijani parliament had arranged and conducted in the capital city of Spain on 28 November upon the instance of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

As she spoke of the 44 days’ Patriotic War that had been crowned with Azerbaijan’s historic victory, the Azerbaijani parliament’s speaker stressed that the whole of Turkey, be it as a state or as a nation, led by the head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan was right by Azerbaijan’s side in that period like ever. The whole world could eyewitness the Azerbaijani-Turkish fraternity and friendship during that war.

Also, Sahiba Gafarova pointed at the high organisation mastery shown by the 16^th conference of the PUIC and mentioned the tremendous importance that Azerbaijan attaches to co-operating with this entity. According to Mrs Gafarova, the Turkish chairmanship in the Union will create a new momentum behind its work. The leader of our state Mr Ilham Aliyev pays a special kind of attention to co-operating and interacting with the Muslim countries and the OIC whilst the Azerbaijani delegation is actively involved in the work done by the OIC Parliamentary Union.

Next, Mrs Gafarova put forth her thoughts about the growing significance of the PUIC in the relations amongst countries, the Islamophobia mounting the world over and the threats it poses, the global struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic and some other topics.

The conversation also saw an exchange of opinions about other subjects of interest to both sides.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis