Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting on 3 March with Chairman of the Majlisi Milli of the Oli Majlis of the Republic of Tajikistan Rustam Emomali who had come to our country on an official visit.

Sahiba Gafarova said she was pleased with the opportunity to welcome the guest and expressed a confidence that his visit was going to contribute to the advancement of the relationship between our countries. Mrs Gafarova also mentioned the 30^th jubilee of the bilateral diplomatic relations before talking about the relations’ progress in the political, economic and cultural & humanitarian fields.

The weighty factor of the reciprocal visits of the heads of state in the deepening of the connexions of the two countries and nations was emphasised duly, as was the presence of a vast potential to broaden the scope of the documents signed to date.

Going further, the leader of the Milli Majlis voiced her thoughts about the current collaboration of the legislatures of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, highlighting the work that the two inter-parliamentary friendship groups are doing.

Sahiba Gafarova said it was a certainty that the Co-operation Agreement between the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Majlisi Milli of the Oli Majlis of the Republic of Tajikistan that is to be signed today would serve the cause of taking our relationship further still.

As the conversation went on, Mr Emomali was informed in detail of the remarkable victory of Azerbaijan in the 44 days’ Patriotic War. In 2020, the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of Azerbaijan Mr Ilham Aliyev and the courage of our glorious Army put an end to the occupation of 20 per cent of our country’s territory by Armenia that had lasted for thirty years. Thus, Azerbaijan made its national territory whole again and, incidentally, also enforced the four resolutions of the UN all by itself. Armenia had robbed and ruined our towns and provinces it had held in captivity; the historical and cultural heritage of our nation, our mosques had been pillaged and sacked, Sahiba Gafarova stressed.

Further, Madame Speaker told about the restoration and rebuilding work afoot in our liberated provinces. She made Mr Emomali aware of the fact that the conflict was in the past, adding that our country is interested in having lasting peace and stability established in our region, and is taking steps to that end. A very large amount of work has been done in a short while; our lands have begun to be swept of mines. Azerbaijan is striving to make sure that the internally displaced people return to their homes in those regions as soon as practicable. We trust that Armenia will make the correct judgement on the reality and that a peace treaty will be signed between our countries presently, according to Mrs Gafarova.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis proceeded to tell of the projects under way in the de-occupied provinces, adding that the launch of the Zangazur Corridor would provide for a yet grater development of our region.

The Chair of the Majlisi Milli of the Oli Majlis of the Republic of Tajikistan Rustam Emomali thanked Speaker Sahiba Gafarova for the invitation to visit Azerbaijan. This is his first official visit as a speaker of parliament to our country known for its profound history of parliamentarism, according to Mr Emomali.

Tajikistan values highly the traditional bonds of friendship with Azerbaijan that are rooted in the historical and cultural community; Azerbaijan occupies a substantial place in the Tajik foreign politics, said the leader of the Parliament of Tajikistan. Our relations are advancing bilaterally as well as internationally, here also including within the frameworks of international organisations, he added.

The Co-operation Agreement that is to be signed between the two legislative assemblies today will cause a yet more robust progress of the bilateral inter-parliamentary connexions, in the opinion of Rustam Emomali.

Matters related to the two-way economic, trading, transport, education and culture interaction and connexions were also discussed as the conversation unfolded further.

Then, the meeting was over and the Co-operation Agreement was signed between the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Majlisi Milli of the Oli Majlis of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis