BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
Trend:
Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Sahiba Gafarova met with UK’s Minister for European Neighbourhood Morton Wendy, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan on Feb. 8, the Azerbaijani parliament told Trend.
The speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament greeted the guest and stressed that the UK was among the first countries which recognized the state independence of Azerbaijan and today the political relations between the two countries are at a high level.
The visits of Azerbaijani National Leader Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev to the UK made a great contribution to the development of bilateral relations.
In turn, UK’s high-ranking delegations visited Azerbaijan and during their visit, a number of documents related to the relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the UK were signed.
“We would like the two parliaments to actively pay mutual visits,” Gafarov said. “The fact that we have established high-level political relations has a corresponding impact on economic ties. Today our countries are successfully cooperating in the oil and gas industry. For example, BP is well known to the general public."
Thanking for the cordial welcome, Wendy shared impressions of her first visit to Azerbaijan and highly appreciated the meetings and discussions held here.
Wendy also commended the work conducted in Azerbaijan to prevent domestic violence and resolve gender issues, pointing out the important role of the parliament in improving the relevant legal framework.
Gafarova, in response, informed on the special attention paid in Azerbaijan, to gender issues.
"Suffrage was granted to women for the first time in the Muslim East in Azerbaijan in 1918,” Gafarova added. “In the Soviet period, these issues were regulated by the then constitution of the country, which ensured equality of women and men.”
“After our country achieved independence for the second time in 1991, the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs was established to thoroughly deal with gender issues besides other issues,” Gafarova said. “Now Azerbaijani women are represented in various spheres, including public administration and parliament. Azerbaijani First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva represents Azerbaijani women at the highest level with her large-scale activity and she personally pays close attention to this topic.”
The speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament also stressed that a specialized committee dealing with family and women's issues is operating in the Azerbaijani parliament and that the parliament has adopted a number of laws regulating this sphere.
“Our female MPs take an active part in international events dedicated to gender issues,” Gafarova added.
During the conversation, the views on other topics of interest were exchanged.
Head of the working group for the Azerbaijan-UK inter-parliamentary relations Javanshir Feyziyev, ambassadors of both countries Tahir Taghizade and James Lyle Sharp, as well as other officials, attended the meeting.