The Chair of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met with the President of Latvia Egils Levits

Welcoming the Chair of the Milli Majlis, the Latvian President stressed that Azerbaijan is a friendly state to Latvia. President Levits said his country is interested in further developing relations with Azerbaijan in different areas. The Latvian President pointed that his country has always supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and will continue to do so.

Speaking about the importance of further deepening economic cooperation, Egils Levits briefed the Chair on the current situation with the pandemic and on the work realized by Latvia to combat the COVID-19 pandemic as well as praised Azerbaijan's initiatives to combat this pandemic. He noted that Azerbaijan and Latvia have good cooperation within international organizations, including the United Nations.

Sahiba Gafarova thanked for the high hospitality shown to the delegation and conveyed the greetings of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the President of Latvia. It was also noted that this is the first visit of Sahiba Gafarova to Latvia in her capacity of Chair of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Chair of Milli Majlis expressed hope that the meetings and discussions held during the visit would contribute to the development of bilateral relations, as well as inter-parliamentary relations.

Noting that Azerbaijan and Latvia are friendly and strategic partners, the Chair of the Milli Majlis touched upon the history of friendly relations between the people of the two countries.

Noting that multiculturalism is a way of life of the Azerbaijani people, Sahiba Gafarova underlined that representatives of different religions and nationalities live peacefully and friendly in Azerbaijan.

The Chair also outlined the fruitful cooperation between the two countries established in the area of inter-parliamentary relations. Mutual visits and parliamentary friendship groups play special role in this cooperation. The Chair expressed appreciation for the mutual cooperation of two parliaments within international organizations.

Recalling the visit to Azerbaijan of the delegation of the Friendship Group of the Latvian Parliament in June 2021, Sahiba Gafarova said that Latvian MPs saw with their own eyes everything with regard to the territories destroyed by Armenian rocket attacks on Ganja during the Second Karabakh War as well as in the liberated cities of Agdam and Fizuli. The Chair of the Milli Majlis noted that the statements of the friendship group on the Khojaly genocide, as well as on provocations committed by Armenia on our borders, their letters of support and congratulations on the liberation of our lands in the result of the Patriotic War were highly appreciated in Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, Sahiba Gafarova gave detailed information about the Khojaly genocide, which 30th anniversary is approaching.

Speaking about the victory of Azerbaijan in the 44-day Patriotic War, Sahiba Gafarova stressed that today the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan no longer exists and a new reality has emerged in the region. Azerbaijan has made a number of proposals to Armenia on mutual recognition of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the beginning of the process of delimitation and demarcation of borders, the restoration of all communications in the region and the signing of a peace agreement that will lead to normalization of relations. “We want to talk about peace and the future, not war”. Sahiba Gafarova said that Armenia must properly assess the new reality in the region and fulfill its obligations to establish peace and stability in the region.

The two parties also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.