Türkiye, Azerbaijan marching towards 'mutual goals in development,' says parliament chief

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) — Türkiye and Azerbaijan have made progress on achieving "mutual goals in development," the Turkish parliament speaker told his counterpart in Baku on Thursday.

According to a statement by the Turkish parliament, Numan Kurtulmus told Azerbaijan's National Assembly speaker Sahiba Gafarova that the "momentum gained between the presidents of the two countries is for the benefit of the nations and that good steps have been taken by considering mutual goals in development."

In talks on the sidelines of an Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) meeting in the Azerbaijani capital, Kurtulmus and Gafarova discussed bilateral diplomatic and inter-parliamentary relations, as well as regional and global issues, the statement noted.

He emphasized that the two countries continue to "implement the understanding of 'one nation, two states' in practice and that they would take the cooperation and brotherhood further."

Wishing Gafarova success in Baku's term presidency of the APA, Kurtulmus underlined the importance of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's reelection earlier this month.

He also noted that Turkish lawmakers were present as observers during the election and added that this would further enhance bilateral ties, according to the statement.

Kurtulmus also conveyed Türkiye's regret over the fact that the authorization documents of Azerbaijan's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) were not approved.

The statement said he underlined that it is Europe's interest for Azerbaijan to be present in PACE, in which both Ankara and Baku are members.

"Emphasizing that the decision was not correct and should be revised as soon as possible, Kurtulmus said that PACE members made this decision under the influence of certain lobbies," it added.

Last month, PACE refused to ratify the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation in a vote, claiming that the country "did not fulfill major commitments" and showed a "lack of cooperation."

In response, Azerbaijan's delegation to PACE announced that it had ceased engagement with the assembly until further notice and expressed that it made this decision "in the face of current unbearable atmosphere of racism, Azerbaijanophobia and Islamophobia."