President Aliyev receives parliament speakers of Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan [PHOTO]

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Ismail Kahraman, Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin and Chairman of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic Chynybay Tursunbekov in Baku on December 22.

Welcoming the guests, President Aliyev stressed the importance of the visit of heads of parliaments in Baku, saying that the visit will strengthen the unity of the countries and give a new impetus to relations.

Ilham Aliyev noted that the heads of states also contribute to the cooperation of Turkic-speaking countries, and said that this cooperation is important both for the region and the world.

Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nigmatulin, for his part expressed gratitude to the head of state for the construction of the headquarters in Baku. He stressed that our peoples have common Turkic origin, and the construction of this building in Baku has a symbolic meaning.

"Baku is a vivid example of the development of Azerbaijan," said Nigmatulin, noting that the development of Azerbaijan and its capital makes a great impression.

He stressed that the TurkPA countries share common positions in the framework of international organizations, expressing confidence that the new headquarters will bring forward useful initiatives.

Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan praised the role of President Aliyev in the development and contribution to the TurkPA and on behalf of his colleagues expressed appreciation for the support of the organization.

He stressed that the organization established a medal "For special merits in the development of the TurkPA" saying that President of Azerbaijan is by unanimous decision was first awarded this medal for the merits in strengthening solidarity and unity of the Turkic-speaking countries and presented the medal to Ilham Aliyev.

The speakers visit the country to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the headquarters of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA).

TURKPA was established on November 21, 2008, according to anagreement signed by the heads of parliaments of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey in Istanbul,Turkey.

In 2009, the first plenary session of TURKPA was held in Baku. The TURKPA chairmanship is annually handed over from one country to another by means of rotation in English alphabetical order.