Foreign

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting on 23 May with the participants of the 7th trilateral meeting of the external relations committees of the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia that had taken place in Shusha, APA reports.

The leader of the Milli Majlis spoke appreciatively of the conduct of the scheduled meeting of the parliamentary committees of the three friendly and brotherly states in Azerbaijan and said that the meeting was due to contribute uniquely to the advancement of the trilateral inter-parliamentary relations.

Our countries have built the very efficient bilateral and trilateral co-operation formats that help maintain and make stronger peace, stability, co-operation and economic growth in the region.

The Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian nations have firm historical ties between them as well as they have amity and bonds of brotherhood. In particular, the links of Azerbaijan with both Turkey and Georgia rest on the very sound foundations. The high-status political dialogues of our countries have the unfailing support of the heads of the three states as well as their parliaments and on other levels. The three countries are always solidary and always defend each other’s viewpoints in influential international organisations. Besides, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia are successful partners in the joint energy and transport projects of global scale and importance.

As she was talking of inter-parliamentary co-operation, Speaker Gafarova mentioned Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop having attended the PAECO Third General Conference a few days back as well as the trip of the participating parliamentary speakers and delegation leaders to Shusha. Mrs Gafarova also recalled the meetings she had had during her official visit to Georgia in April this year and mentioned the discussions held there with approval. The significance of the 7th joint meeting of the three states’ external relations committees in Shusha was underscored once more, after which Mrs Gafarova said that it was rewarding that such an event would have taken place in our liberated lands, in Shusha – the cultural capital of Azerbaijan.

It was mentioned there that Armenia had destroyed our towns and villages, and had vandalised the monuments of our history, culture and religion during the long occupation years.

Sahiba Gafarova also broached the meeting of the President of Azerbaijan and the PM of Armenia conducted at the suggestion at the President of the EU Council Charles Michel. Armenia should fulfil the obligations it assumed and take a constructive approach to the pertaining matters. There are new co-operation opportunities present in the South Caucasus in this post-conflict period and tapping those opportunities will doubtless bring peace and well-being to the region.

The chairman of the External Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament Nikoloz Samkharadze said he was pleased with the visit to our country as well as with the meetings held here. He added that such events (as the trilateral committee meeting) were important for regional co-operation and inter-parliamentary connexions alike. Mr Samkharadze praised the work done by the friendship groups in the three legislative assemblies as well.

The head of the International and Inter-parliamentary Relations Committee of the Milli Majlis Samad Seyidov, too, talked about the trilateral meeting of the parliamentary committees in Shusha and shared his thoughts about the topics that had been tabled at it.

The leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the GNAT Akif Çağatay Kılıç expressed the gratitude for having placed the said committee specifically in the de-occupied town of Shusha and said that Turkey had always supported and was supporting Azerbaijan as was abundantly clear from the meeting of the heads of the two states in Shusha. We trust, Mr Kılıç went on, that steady peace and stability would be installed in the region in a short while. Calling further joint meetings of the three parliamentary committees will be instrumental in co-ordinating the stances and viewpoints of all the sides, in the opinion of Mr Kılıç.

There was also an exchange of opinions about other matters of interest to all the parties as the meeting drew on.

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