Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has had a meeting with the Estonian President Alar Karis as part of her current official visit to the Republic of Estonia.

Welcoming the Azerbaijani delegation warmly, President Karis said he believed that their visit was going to bolster the bilateral relations further. Then, he touched on the history of the relationship of the two countries and their nations.

Whilst Azerbaijan and Estonia have organised successful co-operation in a number of areas, there is now a sound potential to continue promoting this interaction, according to the Estonian leader who also voiced the support for the ties between Azerbaijan and the European Union. Estonia has invariably backed the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Mr Karis emphasised then.

The speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova let the Estonian side know our appreciation of their remarkable hospitality and this sincere meeting. She passed on to President Karis the greetings from the leader of the Azerbaijan Republic President Ilham Aliyev.

Speaker Gafarova mentioned this being her first visit to Estonia as the head of the legislative assembly. She voiced satisfaction with the current level of interaction between the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Estonia before pointing out the presence of substantial opportunities to intensify the relations further. Mrs Gafarova said she trusted that the current visit would bear well on the bilateral connexions.

The existing legislative frameworks of the Azerbaijani-Estonian interaction could be enriched with new documents to ensure the encompassment of various segments of the bilateral agenda. A continued intensification of our economic, trading, investment, agricultural and otherwise co-operation is very much achievable for all the adverse effects generated by the COVID-19, Sahiba Gafarova emphasised.

As she was telling of the connexions between Azerbaijan and the European Union, Speaker Gafarova mentioned the conversations regarding a new partnership treaty being in the concluding phase and Azerbaijan having inked strategic partnership deeds with as many as nine EU Member States. It was further noted that the President of the EU Council Mr Charles Michel had paid a visit to Azerbaijan in July 2021 whilst President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan had taken part in the 6^th Summit of the EU Eastern Partnership in Brussels. Such visits as those demonstrated the nature of the relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, Mrs Gafarova concluded.

Mrs Gafarova also brought up the victory of Azerbaijan in the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020, saying that our country had freed its lands after thirty years of the Armenian occupation and had restored its territorial integrity relying on its own devices and resources only. In doing so, Azerbaijan had also enforced the four resolutions of the UN Security Council that had been but on paper for so long – and had implemented the norms and principles of the international law, too. Large-scale restoration and building operations are afoot in the freed Azerbaijani provinces now. It has proven feasible to accomplish a lot in a rather brief period; for instance, the new transport infrastructure is in place already whilst an international airport has been launched in Fuzuli. Launching the Zangazur Corridor and restarting all the regional communications will add to the transport potential of the region tremendously. Armenia, meanwhile, should assess the new realia settled in here correctly and do its part of obligations within its boundaries, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova stressed.

President Alar Karis of Estonia asked for his greetings to be passed on to President Ilham Aliyev and said that Estonia attached a great importance to furthering its relations with Azerbaijan.

Other matters of mutual interests were touched on in the course of the conversation as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis