Azerbaijan hails parliamentary meetings with Armenia as mechanism for peace talks PHOTO

Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament and head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union Sahiba Gafarova delivered a speech at the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Switzerland on March 23.

Gafarova delivered a speech on such a topic as “Parliamentary diplomacy: Building Bridges for Peace and Understanding”, according to Report.

In her speech, Gafarova wished success during the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

While emphasising the importance of choosing peace, security and mutual understanding as the strategic policy direction and the topic for discussion in 2024, she noted that the issue of peace and mutual understanding has acquired great importance and has become a decisive factor.

“Our hopes for a better world are closely tied to peace and understanding,” she said.

“Today the world has become more fragmented and dangerous. This is a consequence of non-compliance with international rules, double standards and the dominance of the interests of certain countries and is associated with the ineffectiveness of multilateral mechanisms,” Gafarova added.

Gafarova added that these issues were widely discussed several days ago within the 11th Global Baku Forum on such a topic as “Fixing the Fractured World,” organised by the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre. More than 400 high-ranking guests from 68 countries attended it.

While drawing attention to the general consensus on the need to create a stronger, more effective and multilateral inclusive system that underpins the United Nations, the speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament noted that this system must be based on the strict, non-discriminatory application of generally accepted norms and principles of international law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, protection of justice.

According to the message, this is a prerequisite for restoring and maintaining the peace and understanding that everybody strives to achieve.

While touching upon the growing importance of parliamentary diplomacy, the speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament shared her opinion on the role of parliaments in achieving peace and mutual understanding.

“The parliamentary diplomacy has become an important factor in interstate relations amid existing international problems,” she said, adding that it is important to maintain multilateralism and international cooperation in solving global problems.

Gafarova said that it would be rather optimistic to analyse the parliaments as an independent tool for dealing with peace and security problems, which should be viewed from a broader perspective.

“While taking into account the concept in which a dialogue is a fundamental requirement for peace, the parliaments become an effective additional resource for building bridges for the sake of peace and understanding,” the message says.

According to the message, as the representatives of the nation, the parliaments can make important contributions to such issues as trust, security and peaceful coexistence in the world.

In this context, Gafarova highly appreciated the role of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s leadership, in particular Secretary General Martin Chungong, in providing a platform for the first meeting of the speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament and the president of the Armenian National Assembly.

She emphasised that today both countries are closer to peace than ever before. Such meetings between the parliaments of the two countries will be a useful mechanism for constructive discussions.

Gafarova added that as opposed to some other interparliamentary organisations that shy away from their goals, the Inter-Parliamentary Union adheres to a position of dialogue and plays an important role in creating bridges between the sides.