On July 19, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received the delegation headed by the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament, David McAlister.

APA reports that

, speaking at the meeting, said:

- Good morning.

I remember our last meeting was five years ago.

, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament

:

- Islamic Solidarity Games were held that year.

President Ilham Aliyev

: Yes, it was 2017.

It's been a long time.

A delegation from the European Parliament had not arrived for a long time.

I remember that the last delegation came in 2018.

To be honest, I was even a little surprised when I heard that you are planning a trip to Azerbaijan.

Maybe you know the reason.

I remember the meeting where we discussed extensively about the development of cooperation.

But, unfortunately, it did not happen.

The reason was not with us, but with the position of some members of the European Parliament.

We consider that position completely unfounded.

Accusations, insults and false information were spread against us.

I have even forgotten the number of anti-Azerbaijani resolutions adopted by the European Parliament at different times.

Perhaps we are talking about more than 10 resolutions.

Especially after the Patriotic War, a resolution was adopted.

This is particularly worrying because the resolution refers to the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Karabakh.

This is not true.

That resolution was adopted in March of this year.

That is, it happens a year and a half after the end of the war.

After the end of the war, there were numerous visits by representatives of embassies, politicians, parliament speakers of some European countries, and journalists.

All of them witnessed the complete destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage.

They did not see the destruction of any Armenian cultural heritage.

On the contrary, Armenian cultural heritage is protected both in Baku and Karabakh.

However, during the occupation, 65 out of 67 mosques were destroyed by Armenia.

Not even a word is said about it.

They kept pigs and cows in our mosques, destroyed our cities and villages.

Currently, we organize trips and every citizen of Azerbaijan can visit Shushan, Fuzuli and Aghdam.

Everyone can see the scale of Armenian vandalism and barbarism.

Under such conditions, it is completely unacceptable to adopt a unilateral resolution that accuses Azerbaijan of issues that we have never committed and ignores the actions of Armenia and Armenians in our territories.

Alas, it happened.

I know that many members of your delegation voted in favor of that resolution.

This is a completely counterproductive step.

First, it is false and based on fabricated facts, slander and slander.

Secondly, it is not so important.

Because you probably know that there is a good history of relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan, and especially now the relations are developing very successfully.

You are probably aware of the visit of the President of the European Commission Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen yesterday.

We had very good discussions.

This once again emphasizes the importance of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

At the same time, the President of the Council of the European Union, Mr. Charles Michel, was actively involved in the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He has already hosted three tripartite meetings with the participation of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan and himself.

So it's a very positive context.

But with this in mind, we cannot understand the actions of the European Parliament.

In fact, the European Parliament is more aggressive towards Azerbaijan than the Armenian Parliament.

Sometimes it seems that these resolutions are adopted by the Armenian parliament, or maybe

some Armenian lobby groups have some influence on them.

Otherwise, it is very difficult to understand.

When I said I was surprised, I meant it.

Mr. McAlister, Nice to see you.

I remember our meeting.

I know you did not vote for this resolution.

But unfortunately, many European parliamentarians attacked us without any reason.

So this is the situation.

We live in the real world, it's not our choice.

You know my position.

My position has not changed since our last meeting in 2017.

We want to build close relations with Europe, and everything we do, including the visible signs of cooperation that I have just mentioned, demonstrates this.

But if the European Parliament thinks to choose such a path, it is their choice.

But they should know that it is impossible to isolate Europe from Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan from Europe, despite the efforts of some members of the parliament.

That will probably be the end of my introductory speech.

I think it is necessary.

Because I know your trip just started - this morning - and I don't want to act like nothing happened.

It happened, a very serious and worrying issue happened.

Therefore, I decided to inform you about the views of myself and the absolute majority of the Azerbaijani people.

They are proud of our liberating our lands, of our brave soldiers, of those who died for the Motherland, of being Azerbaijanis, of being representatives of the nation that put an end to the occupation, restored justice, national dignity, and is now successfully developing.

xxx

, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament

:

- Mr. President.

Thank you for hosting us.

It is a great honor for us.

Thank you for your kind words at the beginning of our conversation.

Our delegation includes six members of parliament.

Our visit to the South Caucasus will continue throughout the week.

After the visit to Azerbaijan, we will visit Georgia and then Armenia.

Mr. President, I would like to introduce my colleagues from the European Parliament to you.

This is Ms. Assita Kanko from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group.

There is also Viola Von Cramon representing the Green Group.

On the other side of the table, Mr. Sven Wikser, a member of the Progressive Union of Socialists and Democrats, sat at the end of the table, Mr. Mariani, a representative of the Democratic Group.

This is Ambassador Peter Michalko, who represents the European Union in your country and whom you know.

Our arrival here is an indication of the importance we attach to the relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan.

These relations manifest themselves more clearly in the current period of historical change.

Mr. President, we would like to take this opportunity to learn your impressions about the visit of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to your country yesterday.

xxx

The head of state touched on the importance of the visit of the President of the European Union Commission Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen to Azerbaijan and positively evaluated the results of the visit.

During the visit, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership in the field of energy was signed with Ursula von der Leyen.

The head of state touched on the process of negotiations on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the support of the President of the Council of the European Union Charles Michel and brought to the attention of the guests that Armenia has not fulfilled its obligations under the tripartite Declaration signed on November 10, 2020.

During the conversation, it was emphasized that the relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan are developing successfully in all fields, and the importance of expanding cooperation with all the institutions of the European Union in this regard is emphasized.

***

10:50

On July 19, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received the delegation headed by the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament, David McAlister.

APA reports that the Press Service of the President released information about this.