The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, commended the significant role played by the Arab Parliament in the field of parliamentary diplomacy and the defense of Arab and Islamic issues, and praised the keenness of the President of the Arab Parliament to strengthen Arab relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan at all levels, notably in light of the historical, cultural and religious commonalities between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Arab States, and stressed that the relations with Arab States were one of the key pillars of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy. This came during the reception by H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of H.E. Mr. Adel bin AbdulRahman AlAsoomi President of the Arab Parliament and accompanying delegation, in the course of his official visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan to participate in the Special Session of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the founder of the modern Republic of Azerbaijan, who played a major role in promoting Azerbaijan’s relations with Arab States. President Aliyev added that the late leader Heydar Aliyev had greatly emphasized developing relations with the Arab States, and underlined that this policy is continued today, vividly testified by his multiple meetings with Heads of Arab States and reciprocal visits, and pointed that Arab-Azerbaijani relations are developing successfully at all levels, and expressed confidence that the visit of the President of the Arab Parliament to Azerbaijan would contribute to the expansion of the Arab-Azerbaijani cooperation at the parliamentary level. From his side, AlAsoomi expressed the Arab Parliament’s appreciation for the great role played by the late leader Heydar Aliyev in establishing strong relations of the Republic of Azerbaijan with the Arab and Islamic States, and paid tribute to the foreign policy of current President Ilham Aliyev and his support for Arab issues primarily the Palestinian question, as well as his keenness to follow his father Leader Heydar Aliyev’s footsteps in enhancing his country’s relations with Arab States as reflected in the remarkable qualitative leap in Arab relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan. The President of the Arab Parliament also commended the strenuous efforts of President Ilham Aliyev under his chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, which during his reign had witnessed qualitative developments and achievements that had contributed to the strengthening of the global role of the Movement and the realization of its noble objectives for which it was established, and added that President Ilham Aliyev’s initiative to establish a parliamentary arm of the Movement under the name of “The Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network” is an addition to his achievements in this field, and emphasized the Arab Parliament’s keenness to participate actively in this Network since its establishment. The Arab Parliament’s delegation included H.E. MP. Dr. Abdualslam Nasia and H.E. MP. Dr. Hanan AlFatlawi, and from the General Secretariat Mr. Ahmed Tarek.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon