BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17. The first informal meeting of Speakers of Parliament of the TURKPA Member-States has taken place within the frameworks of the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova spoke at the meeting, Trend reports, citing the Press and Public Relations Department of the Milli Majlis.
The Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament said that the Milli Majlis, as always, will continue its consistent support for the sustainable development of TURKPA. She emphasised that our peoples and countries are closely bound by a common history, language and cultural and spiritual values. The co-operative links between our brotherly countries are developing successfully and dynamically both in bilateral and multilateral formats, according to her.
The Speaker of the Milli Majlis said that our relations, which are built on mutual support and dependable partnership as well as the unity and solidarity of our countries, grows increasingly strong in spite of the geopolitical tensions and threats emanating from the geographical space surrounding our brotherly countries. Such unity and solidarity ensure development and co-operation whilst also contributing significantly to peace and stability at the regional and global levels.
It was observed that Azerbaijan consistently carries out activities for the sake of closer integration of the Turkic World, the growth of its political and economic power as well as the enhancement of its international authority. The expansion and strengthening of the ties with the fraternal Turkic states represents one of the main priority areas in Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.
It is precisely in this sense, according to Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, that the first informal meeting of Heads of State of the Organisation of Turkic States took place in the cultural capital, the city of Shusha, in July 2024 upon the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan Mr Ilham Aliyev. The tradition was continued and the next informal summit meeting was held in Budapest in 2025.
Having said that the Milli Majlis supports the initiative to hold informal meetings of Speakers of Parliament of TURKPA Member-States within the framework of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assemblies, Sahiba Gafarova added that these meetings provide for assessing our co-operation not only within TURKPA but also within other international organisations and structures, and for discussing issues of interest in a sincere atmosphere. It was remarked that our meetings in this format matter very much inasmuch as discussing issues on the agenda, protecting our common interests and co-ordinating future activities are concerned.
The meeting continued with speeches by Speakers of Parliament of the other Member-States of the Organisation and with discussions.