Azernews.Az

Georgia and Azerbaijan back each other in the international arena, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has said.

The president made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Sahiba Gafarova.

Welcoming the speaker, President Zourabichvili noted the importance of such visits in the exchange of experience. She underlined the role of the parliaments in the progress of the bipartite cooperation and thanked for the promotion of the close bilateral interparliamentary connections.

Thanking the president for the cordial reception of the Azerbaijani delegation, Gafarova stated that Azerbaijan and Georgia are neighbors and amicable states. Noting the history of relations between the two states that dates back over many centuries, she stressed that it was only propelled to intensive progress after both regained their independence.

The parliament speaker noted that these kindly relations, which stemmed from the foundation laid by great national leader Heydar Aliyev, are now successfully maintained by President Ilham Aliyev.

“The two countries have signed documents encompassing various areas over the past years. Those documents are the powerful legal platform for our collaboration in all those areas,” she noted.

Talking about Azerbaijan’s outstanding victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, the speaker noted that Azerbaijan had restored its territorial integrity by liberating the lands occupied by Armenia for 30 years.

She said that during the occupation of our territories, Armenia looted all the material and cultural resources and destroyed our cities and villages.

Gafarova noted that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has already gone down in history, and now Azerbaijan is clearing and restoring the liberated areas for the return of IDPs to their native lands.

“Azerbaijan has put proposals to Armenia about signing a peace treaty that would ensure sovereignty and territorial integrity recognition, gear into motion the border delimitation and demarcation process, lead to restoration of all the regional communications and result in normalization of the relations. We hope that the signing of a peace agreement between the two countries soon will make a significant contribution to the development and prosperity of the entire region,” she added.

Later, Gafarova emphasized the role the legislatures played in the progress of the Azerbaijani-Georgian connections.

“Our parliaments interact one-to-one as well as multilaterally. Both have friendship groups, too. Our delegations cooperate fruitfully in the international parliamentary entities,” she added.

Later, the parliament speaker also highlighted the work done by the inter-governmental commission on bilateral economic cooperation and mentioned Georgia being an active player in the colossal international projects that Azerbaijan had undertaken.

She noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijani-Georgian diplomatic relations.

The sides also exchanged views on other topics of mutual interest.

Cooperation between parliaments

During the official visit, Sahiba Gafarova also met Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

Georgia thought it to be of utmost importance to promote its relations with Azerbaijan as a friendly state, said the chairman.

Shalva Papuashvili noted that cooperation between the two countries has risen from the regional to the international level, especially in political, economic, transport, trade and humanitarian issues.

He said that Georgia and Azerbaijan have always supported each other in international organizations.

Stating that relations between the nations are based on historical roots, the chairman expressed confidence that these relations will further develop in the future. He noted that his country has always supported and will continue to support Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

Further, he hailed Azerbaijan's reconstruction efforts in the liberated territories and the Azerbaijani leadership's modern approach to this work.

Papuashvili noted cooperation between the parliaments in both bilateral and multilateral formats. From this point of view, mutual visits and regular meetings of the parliamentary leadership and deputies serve the common interests of the people.

During the conversation, he stressed the importance of further developing humanitarian, cultural, and educational relations.

Gafarova expressed gratitude to her colleague and stated that this is her first official visit to Georgia as Speaker of the Parliament.

She stressed Georgia's active participation in the international projects implemented by Azerbaijan.

“Joint petroleum and transport projects show a strong partnership between our countries. There is a very fruitful cooperation between our legislatures,“ she noted.

Further, she stressed that the trilateral cooperation format binding together the international relations committees of the legislatures of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is very productive in this sense.

After the meeting, the speaker wrote a heartfelt entry in the "Book of Honorary Guests".

Strategic partnership

The Azerbaijani-Georgian strategic partnership stands on the platform built by great leaders Heydar Aliyev and Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at a meeting with Gafarova.

He expressed his approval of the strategic relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia, their friendly bonds, and the progress of those relations in various fields.

The prime minister asked to convey his greetings to President Ilham Aliyev, who deserves great respect for the restoration of the country's territorial integrity.

Speaking about the importance of developing inter-parliamentary relations, Garibashvili said that mutual visits of delegations further strengthened our relations. He stressed the importance of continuing joint projects implemented by the two countries.

Further, he noted the growth of the trilateral Georgian-Turkish-Azerbaijani relations and expressed his support for reinforcing this kind of interaction further.

On her part, the Azerbaijani speaker underlined the exceptional role of high-level visits and meetings in the development of bilateral relations. In this regard, she mentioned the significance of the visits of President Ilham Aliyev to Georgia and those of the Georgian side to Azerbaijan.

She highlighted the importance of economic ties, noting that Azerbaijan is one of the principal trading partners and investors in Georgia.

Further, the speaker informed Garibashvili about the restoration process in the liberated areas.

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