Speaker Gafarova: Azerbaijan resolutely defends international law, justice in world arena

Milli Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said in her speech at the 14th plenary session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly held in Baku on February 22 that Azerbaijan firmly defends international law and justice in the world arena, Azernews reports.

According to the Speaker, Azerbaijan's position on the Palestinian issue is principled and consistent: "Azerbaijan strongly supports the resolution of this issue on the basis of the two-state solution in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions".

Sahiba Gafarova added that Azerbaijan considers the Asian Parliamentary Assembly an important structure.

"By uniting our parliaments, we further mobilise the efforts of our countries to achieve common goals. At the same time, in order to achieve these goals, the parliament contributes to this work. As the Parliament of Azerbaijan, we view the APA as an important structure. It reflects our common desire to deepen our inter-parliamentary dialog. I believe that developing the institutional capacity of the organisation will further strengthen our cooperation."

"The work of the Assembly can be further strengthened by enhancing the activities and effectiveness of the existing bodies governed by the APA Charter. The creation of new mechanisms will significantly enrich our work," Gafarova added.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova said in her speech that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with Asian countries both at bilateral and multilateral levels.

The speaker said there are important areas that can further enhance cooperation for the prosperity of the countries and the region and enable the achievement of common development goals:

"One of them is transport connectivity. As a result of large investments in transport infrastructure, Azerbaijan has become one of the transport and logistics hubs of Eurasia. East-West and North-South transportation corridors pass through Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's infrastructure is accessible to all Asian countries. Expansion of cooperation in this area of economy and trade between our countries will certainly contribute to the development of relations."

At the same time, Safarova noted that a clean environment and green development are among the main priority areas of Azerbaijan's sustainable development agenda. "Azerbaijan has also joined the Global Agreement to triple the world's renewable energy potential and double energy efficiency by 2030," she said. "The COP29 host country was selected with unanimous support. This is a confirmation of Azerbaijan's commitment to support international efforts on climate change."