Baku, Azerbaijan, May 15
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
A fruitful meeting was held May 15 as part of the dialogue between the Azerbaijani authorities and the opposition, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani president's aide for public and political affairs told reporters.
Hasanov said that the mentioned meeting lasted two and a half hours.
As distinct from the previous meetings, aside from the main issues, the current issues were also included in the agenda today, he added.
Thereby, the heads of the parties were given an opportunity not only to talk about the issues brought up for discussion, but also other issues on the agenda of the Azerbaijani public, said the top official.
The main issues on the agenda today included holding and organization of the First European Games in Azerbaijan and other issues, he said.
Hasanov said that heads of some parties again raised the issues discussed during the previous meetings, in particular those related to releasing prisoners and asked for conveying the appeals for pardoning them to the head of state.
The top official added that other issues concerning the Azerbaijani society and political parties were also raised during the meeting.
These issues included participation in the public and political processes, material security of parties, providing them with headquarters and other important issues ranging from the bank loans to the political pluralism, he said.
Hasanov said that the position on some issues was expressed immediately, while some of them will be discussed during the upcoming meetings.
"The main opinion on the main issue discussed today was that the Azerbaijani state and people need the First European Games," said the top official.
He added that this event will give an opportunity to convey to the international community Azerbaijan's culture, national and spiritual values, the lifestyle, tolerance of Azerbaijani people, the socio-political situation, the country's regional position and so on.
"A common opinion was also expressed that the First European Games will allow Azerbaijan to expand its sports infrastructure, increase the sports potential, to carry out the necessary infrastructure policy as a sports country and to aspire in the future to host more major sports events," he said.
Hasanov said the European Games will allow Azerbaijan to convey to the world the realities about the country, its problems, break down the stereotypes formed as a result of anti-Azerbaijani propaganda, and to bring to the world the culture and history of the Azerbaijani people.
Expressing gratitude to the party heads for the meeting, Hasanov stressed that such a dialogue has no alternative.
"The political parties are the leading institution of the Azerbaijani society, and the authorities too need to know about their attitude towards the current or forecasted developments in the society," said Hasanov.
Commenting on a statement of the 'Musavat' party, that it can take part in a meeting for discussion of the issue of the Eastern Partnership, Hasanov said the matter will be, of course, brought up for discussions.
"We determine the agenda of these events on the basis of proposals of the political parties," he said.