Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova who is in Georgia on an official visit at present met with the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on 19 April.

PM Garibashvili told Speaker Gafarova that he was glad to welcome her and the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation in Georgia. He mentioned approvingly the strategic partnerly relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia, their friendly bonds, and the progress of those relations and those bonds in various fields. This strategic partnership stands on the platform built by the great leaders of our nations, Heydar Aliyev and Eduard Shevardnadze, according to PM Garibashvili.

The Georgian premier asked for his greetings to be conveyed to President Ilham Aliyev, who, he said, was deserving of vast respect as a leader having made the territory of his country intact again.

Irakli Garibashvili touched on the necessity of promoting the inter-parliamentary connexions, adding that the mutual visits of our relations made those connexions increasingly more robust. He also mentioned the importance of continuing the implementation of the joint projects on which both countries are working.

The growth of the trilateral Georgian-Turkish-Azerbaijani relations was referred to as well. Mr Garibashvili spoke in support of reinforcing this kind of interaction further still.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova witnessed her satisfaction with the official visit to Georgia, which is her first one as speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament. Doubtless, Mrs Gafarova remarked, the visit would foster a continued progress of the relations amongst our countries.

The Azerbaijani-Georgian connexions build up on a firm foundation; our diplomatic relations will turn thirty years in 2022. The interaction has risen to the level of strategic partnership in the independence period; there is tight interaction in various areas going between the countries, according to Mrs Gafarova.

The leader of the Azerbaijani parliament proceeded to underline the exceptional part that reciprocal visits and meetings of high standing played in the advancing bipartite relations. In this regard, she mentioned the significance of the visits of President Ilham Aliyev of the Azerbaijan Republic to Georgia and those of the Georgian side – including of President Salome Zurabishvili of Georgia – to Azerbaijan. The Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili has had an official visit to Azerbaijan, too: it was in May last year, Mrs Gafarova was saying as she recalled their conversation at the Milli Majlis then with pleasure.

The importance of the economic ties was brought up. The Speaker of the Milli Majlis said about the numerous documents embracing political and economic matters, trade as well as humanitarian and other fields that our countries have signed to date. Azerbaijan is one of the principal trading partners and investors to Georgia. Many Azerbaijani companies are doing business in Georgia successfully.

The work that the Inter-Governmental Commission for Economic Co-operation is efficient as well; thus, it is generating extensive opportunities to make our economic ties yet more profound, Sahiba Gafarova was saying commandingly. The large-scale energy and transport projects of our country are the especially vivid indicators of the efficiency of our co-operation; all those initiatives are of great significance when it comes to stability and progress in our region.

As for the parliaments, they have a unique role plaid in the strengthening of the inter-state connexions. Parliamentary delegations exchange visits. Saying this, the Chair of the Milli Majlis also told PM Garibashvili of the legislative activities and committees of the parliament of Azerbaijan. The friendship groups that are in action in both states’ legislatures are the bridge whereby experience and information are exchanged amongst them.

According to Sahiba Gafarova, Azerbaijan’s having liberated its lands from the 30-year-long Armenian occupation consequent to the 44 days’ Patriotic War and the restored territorial integrity of the country also had her enforce the well-known four resolutions of the UN Security Council – enforce them all by herself. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is no more. Azerbaijan is working on restoring and rebuilding its liberated lands; the work is going on full-scale.

Armenia had completely razed our towns and villages, and had vandalised the monuments of our history, culture and religion in the occupation timespan. The entire infrastructure is being built from scratch now. New towns and villages are under construction in the Garabagh and East Zangazur economic regions that have been declared the green energy zones. Everything is being done to make certain that the former IDP can return to their homes soon.

We can perceive new realia and new opportunities emerging in the South Caucasus in the post-conflict period. Azerbaijan has repeatedly offered Armenia a peace treaty to be signed to normalise the relations in the region, Mrs Gafarova was saying.

The conversation revolved round other topics of concern to both sides, too.

Georgia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and other officials also took part in the meeting.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis