President Aliyev hosts Palestinian PM, discusses cooperation, humanitarian assistance PHOTO

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of the State of Palestine Mohammad Mustafa discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral ties and reviewed Azerbaijan’s support for Palestinian statehood and humanitarian initiatives during their meeting in Baku on July 16.

The president expressed confidence that Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa’s visit to Azerbaijan would contribute to the further strengthening of the fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Palestine, Caliber.Az reports per state media.

The Azerbaijani leader reiterated that his country supports the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Expressing his honour at meeting with President Aliyev, Mohammad Mustafa conveyed greetings from President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas. 

President Aliyev thanked him for the greetings and asked him to convey his own regards to Mahmoud Abbas. The Azerbaijani president also recalled with satisfaction Abbas’s visit to Azerbaijan, as well as their meetings held on the sidelines of international events.

Mohammad Mustafa noted that a difficult situation currently prevails in Palestine and expressed hope that the country would overcome these challenges with the support of its friends. In this regard, he thanked President Aliyev for Azerbaijan’s assistance to Palestine, including the country’s intention to provide humanitarian support through the construction of a secondary school in Palestine.

During the meeting, the opening of Azerbaijan’s Representative Office in Ramallah and Azerbaijan’s decision to cover the expenses of the Palestinian Embassy in the country were highlighted as indicators of the high level of bilateral relations.

The sides also recalled Azerbaijan’s allocation of $5 million in financial assistance to Palestine following the outcomes of the Conference on the Establishment of the Islamic Financial Safety Net and the Donors’ Conference to Finance the Strategic Plan for the Development of the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, both hosted by Azerbaijan in 2013. It was also noted that Azerbaijan continues to provide assistance to Palestine through the UNRWA agency of the United Nations.

The parties highly valued the education of Palestinian students in Azerbaijan, including 23 students studying under the “Heydar Aliyev International Education Grant” programme and 37 Palestinian students in total.

The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to President Aliyev for Azerbaijan’s support.

During the talks, the sides also discussed the export of certain Palestinian agricultural products to Azerbaijan under preferential conditions and exchanged views on issues of mutual interest.