The first ever joint meeting of the Milli Majlis Law Policy and State-Building Committee and Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee to grace the town of Shusha took place on 8 April.

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and head of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli remarked as he was opening the session that a meeting of parliamentary units happening in Shusha was one of the outcomes of the historic victory won in the 44 days’ Patriotic War under the leadership of the victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev.

First of all, the participants of the joint meeting had a minute of silence in memory of the shahids who had laid their lives down for the liberation of Shusha and the whole of Garabagh as well as of the other territories of our country.

The First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis said then that many events were arranged and conducted in the context of the Year of Shusha declared by President Ilham Aliyev of the Azerbaijan Republic. He proceeded to thank Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova on behalf of all the assembled for the decision to hold parliamentary committee meetings in Shusha this year. Many state authorities are in action in the town already. Placing events of the supreme legislative body of the country in it is of immense political significance as one of the crucial signs of the restored territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Besides, it is quite symbolic that the joint meeting of the parliamentary committees would take place on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the presidential elections of 2018 that bear special importance in state-building in the independent Azerbaijan: four years ago, the people of Azerbaijan once again made their historic choice in favour of Mr Ilham Aliyev as President of the country. That choice they made has led to the de-occupation of Garabagh, amongst other things.

The deliverance from occupation of Shusha and the other formerly captured territories of our country had been the biggest wish of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev. So, his soul is gladdened by this achievement today.

Mr Huseynli’s introductory speech was followed by the discussion of the two items put on the agenda of the first meeting going on in Shusha as a free town.

The chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee of the Milli Majlis Ziyafet Asgarov said that it was a great honour to conduct a meeting here as the parliamentarians of the victorious nation. Mr Asgarov, too, thanked the leaders of the parliament for this assembly of the committees, blessed by the president of the country, and for its organisation.

Going further, Ziyafet Asgarov tabled the first-reading Bill of ratification of the inter-governmental memorandum of understanding between the Azerbaijan Republic, the Republic of Turkey and Georgia regarding the Caucasian Eagle training exercise of the special-designation forces. Our country is an active participant of the NATO Eastern Partnership programme; there have been frequent joint military manoeuvres of these three countries to date. The memorandum of understanding in question, signed in Baku on 10 October 2019, was being presented specifically in the framework of this kind of co-operation, Mr Asgarov explained.

According to the attending Chairman of the Milli Majlis Disciplinary Commission Eldar Ibrahimov, he is proud of being in the freed Shusha as well. Mr Ibrahimov emphasised the tremendous political import of the current event and touched on the fast-paced restoration and building work afoot in Shusha as much as in the other parts of the country rid of the invaders. He said he trusted that a peace treaty was going to be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan soon enough.

The MPs Hikmat Mammadov, Bakhtiyar Sadigov, Elman Mammadov, Aghil Abbas, Arzu Naghiyev, Aydin Mirzazade, Elshad Mirbashir oglu, Elshan Musayev, Azay Guliyev, Fazail Agamali, Erkin Gadirli, Bahrouz Maharramov, Vugar Isgandarov, Nizami Safarov, Tahir Karimli, Amina Agazade and Jabi Guliyev described the joint session of the parliamentary committees in the liberated Shusha as a historic event. For the first time in the whole history of the legislature of Azerbaijan, they said, a meeting of its committees had been arranged in Shusha – the place referred to as the gem of the Caucasus. That filled them with much pride, the MPs added. The de-occupation of our lands is the result of the application of the military-political will of President Ilham Aliyev. Whilst having evicted the occupiers from its soil, Azerbaijan had also enforced the provisions of the international law and made its national territory whole again, they said.

As regards the Bill, it was recommended that it should be tabled before the plenum of the Milli Majlis.

The next agenda item was a package of amendments to the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic. The head of the State-Building, Administrative and Defence Legislation Department of the Milli Majlis Staff Haji Mirhashim Seyid gave an overview of the package, which, he noted, were to increase the yield from foreign economic operations in our country. To wit, it is intended to include in the Code the new edition of Part I of Article 208, saying, ‘Failure to repatriate substantial sums in foreign currencies derived from foreign economic operations and subject to transfer to an account of an authorised bank of the Azerbaijan Republic pursuant to the laws of the Azerbaijan Republic shall be penalised with custodial restraint or duress for up to three years.’

Comments were made by the MPs Erkin Gadirli and Ziyafet Asgarov. Then, it was recommended that the Bill should be brought to the attention of the Milli Majlis at its plenum.

That concluded the joint meeting of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee and the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee held in Shusha.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis