BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 23. Speaker of the Milli Majlis (parliament) of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting on 22 February with Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT) Numan Kurtulmus, in our country for the 14th Plenary Session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the press service of the Azerbaijani parliament told TurkicWorld.

Greeting the GNAT Chairman, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis mentioned the current apex condition of the relations of our countries. Sahiba Gafarova then recalled the first abroad official visit of President Ilham Aliyev paid to Türkiye a few days back on conclusion of the election and said that the friendship and fraternal ties connecting our Heads of State set an example for each of us to follow. The thorough realisation of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev’s ‘One Nation – Two States’ slogan was underscored then, too.

Speaking then about the swearing-in ceremony of President Ilham Aliyev held in the Milli Majlis, the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament pointed to the special importance of the thought that the Head of State expressed in his speech at the event, namely, ‘Our family is the Turkic World’. From this point of view, the Turkic states should establish closer ties with each other, and the parliaments also have significant obligations befalling them in this regard. Sahiba Gafarova then spoke of the need to strengthen the activities of our parliaments, both bilaterally and within the framework of the TURKPA.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova mentioned the largest number of observers from the GNAT out of all the monitoring missions at the presidential election held in our country and thanked her Turkish colleague once again for the letter addressed to the PACE President protesting against the refusal to ratify the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation with this Organisation.

A satisfaction with the establishment of the Türkiye-Azerbaijan University as another manifestation of our countries’ brotherhood was voiced as the conversation proceeded. It was emphasised that this university was going to make a contribution of its own to the future progress of our youth.

Chairman of the GNAT Numan Kurtulmuş said he was pleased to be in Azerbaijan before he offered his congratulations on the transition of the APA chairmanship to Azerbaijan and the high standards set by Azerbaijan’s hosting of this entity’s session. Mr Kurtulmuş also announced the GNAT’s all-in support to be extended to the Azerbaijani chairmanship in the Assembly.

Furthermore, the GNAT Chairman congratulated the Azerbaijani side on President Ilham Aliyev’s victory in the transparent and democratic presidential election in Azerbaijan on 7 February. There had been GNAT Members amongst the election monitors, Mr Kurtulmuş remarked, then underscoring the high elector activity on the day.

The meeting continued with the GNAT Chairman deploring the refusal of the PACE to ratify the credentials of Azerbaijan’s delegation to the Assembly and referring to the relevant resolution as an unacceptable one. According to Mr Kurtulmuş, that decision contradicted the very essence of the PACE whereas the activities of Azerbaijan’s PACE Delegation served the interests of this Organisation, too. The GNAT Chairman described this decision as a result of the efforts put in by certain lobby groups.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova, in turn, touched upon the recent activation of the Islamophobic, Turkophobic and Azerbaijanophobic powers, which she ascribed to their concerns over Azerbaijan’s having de-occupied her lands. Mrs Gafarova said that certain states with France at their head acted against Azerbaijan thus serving the interests of the Armenian Lobby.

There was then an exchange of opinions about the present-day state and growth prospects of the inter-parliamentary relations, deepening the interaction on that plane further and other matters.