Azerbaijan, Baku/ Trend corr. S. Aghayeva/ Sergey Mironov, the Chairman of the Russian Senate (the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament (Duma), has said during today's summary press-conference as the results of his visit to Baku, that Azerbaijan and Russia are strategic partners, and we have the most trust relationship. He estimated the negotiations he held with the Azerbaijani leadership as satisfactorily ones, by noting that during the visit, the most urgent and pressing issues of bilateral cooperation between the two countries were touched upon. Mr. Mironov paid much attention to the respectful attitude toward the Russian culture and Russian language, by stressing that Azerbaijan is one of those CIS countries, which paid such an attention to this language. According to him, that will make the both nations closer to each other. Having noted the successful development of the inter-parliamentarian relations, the Chairman of the Russian Senate marked the importance the Protocol on foundation of the Interstate Institute of Monitoring of Development of Democracy, Parliamentarism and Observance of Election Rights of the Citizens of Member-States of Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of CIS signed between the Azerbaijan's Speaker and him in Baku on March 28, 2007.
Mr. Mironov particularly marked the fact that the first branch would be founded just in Baku, and that "it justifies about the particular authority of the Azerbaijan Parliament of the Milli Majlis in the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly". "Why different foreign guests should teach us democracy? Why CIS member-states cannot themselves conduct monitoring the development of democracy and human rights?" stressed Mr. Mironov.
Mr. Asadov paid particular attention to "respectful attitude" toward the Russian culture and Russian language in the country, by telling the Russian Senator that the Russian language was taught in over 30 institutes of higher education and more than 460 contemporary schools of the countryку. He also added that tens of newspapers, magazines, and journals were currently issued in Russian in Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijan's Speaker, "all these can really make our nations closer to each other".