(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. Azerbaijani
Parliament's Chairperson Sahiba Gafarova met with a Romanian
delegation led by President of the Chamber of Deputies Ion-Marcelu
Ciolacu, trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Parliament.
During the meeting, Gafarova said that this visit will
contribute to the development of cooperation between the
parliaments of the two countries and further strengthening friendly
relations.
Reminding the establishment of diplomatic relations between the
countries in 1992, the chairperson noted that Romania is the second
country in the world to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan
and the first among the European Union countries.
Speaking about the successful development of the
Azerbaijani-Romanian friendly relations at the level of strategic
partnership, she noted the successful activities of the embassies
in the development of relations between the countries.
Gafarova stressed that mutual visits and meetings at the level
of heads of state play an exceptional role in the development of
bilateral relations between the countries.
She emphasized the visits of the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Romania, including the recent working
visit on December 17, 2022.
The chairperson also reminded the visits of the heads of the
Romanian state to Azerbaijan, in particular, the official visit of
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on February 2-3 this year.
Gafarova added that these mutual visits testify to the existence
of an active high-level political dialogue between the
countries.
Further, she noted a rather extensive legal framework between
the two countries, as well as a good level of ties in the fields of
economy and energy.
According to her, trade between the two countries is constantly
growing and there is great potential for expanding cooperation in
various fields.
Speaking about the successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and
Romania within the framework of international organizations,
Gafarova pointed out the importance of continuing this cooperation
and mutual support.
Noting the ties between the two countries in the field of
culture, the chairperson stressed that the activities of the
representative office of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and a number
of other structures in Romania contribute to the development of our
cultural ties.
During the conversation, she reminded that Azerbaijan was the
first country in the Muslim East that granted women the right to
vote as early as 1918 and that the first opera, ballet, and theater
in the Muslim East were created in Azerbaijan.
Noting that parliaments have a special place in relations
between countries, Gafarova expressed satisfaction with the level
of effective cooperation between our parliaments.
She also highlighted the importance of mutual visits that took
place over the past period at the level of chairmen of parliaments,
and friendship groups operating in both parliaments.
Speaking about the role of mutual visits in the development of
relations, the chairperson noted that during the visit of the
Friendship Group of the Romanian Parliament to Azerbaijan in April
2022, the delegation visited the liberated territories, including
the country's cultural capital Shusha city, the participants of the
visit saw the scale of the destruction caused by Armenia [during
the occupation], and got acquainted with the ongoing restoration
and construction work in the liberated territories.
Besides, during the conversation, Gafarova noted the importance
of cooperation at the level of parliamentary committees for the
further development of inter-parliamentary relations.
The speaker also spoke about the victory of Azerbaijan in the
2020 Second Karabakh War, and the restoration of the country's
territorial integrity.
She noted that the resolutions adopted by the UN Security
Council and other international organizations to resolve the
conflict, demanding the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from
Armenian occupation, weren't implemented for a long time, and,
finally, in 2020, Azerbaijan ensured the implementation of these
resolutions on its own.
The chairperson informed about the restoration work in the
liberated territories, and the process of returning former
internally displaced persons to their native lands.
She noted that Azerbaijan offered to sign a peace agreement
based on five basic principles of international law, but Armenia
took a destructive position during the negotiations.
Expressing gratitude for the invitation to pay an official visit
to Azerbaijan, Ciolacu noted that there are close ties between the
countries and that Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of Romania in
the South Caucasus.
Besides, Ciolacu shared his impressions of the meeting with
President Ilham Aliyev.
He also shared his opinion on the development of
inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries, the role
of friendship groups in this area, and the contribution of joint
projects of Romania and Azerbaijan to the energy security of
Europe.
Gafarova thanked Ciolaku for his sincere words about our
country, the President, and the people.
During the conversation, the importance of expanding cooperation
between delegations of countries in international organizations was
emphasized.
The meeting was attended by Azerbaijani Parliament's Labor and
Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev, Head of the Working Group on
Azerbaijan-Romania Inter-Parliamentary Relations Azay Guliyev, the
group's member Aghalar Valiyev, Head of the Azerbaijani
Parliament's Administration Farid Hajiyev, ambassadors of both
countries Huseyn Najafov and Vasile Soare, as well as other
officials.
