President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Senator representing Upper Rhine department at the French Senate, member of the French-Caucasus friendship group, former minister Jean-Marie Bockel.

The head of state said the visits of members of the French parliament became traditional, and hailed the fact that they come in a new format every time they visit Azerbaijan. The President said the visit would be a great opportunity for the French delegation to closer familiarize themselves with Azerbaijan.

Touching upon the regular visits of members of the French parliament, the head of state stressed the role of such trips in strengthening friendship between the two countries.

President Ilham Aliyev said that political and economic relations as well as inter-parliamentary cooperation were of pivotal importance in terms of the strengthening of the bilateral ties.

Jean-Marie Bockel stressed the significance of traditional visits of the French parliamentary delegation. He said members of the delegation were friends of Azerbaijan. Jean-Marie Bockel said they were visiting Azerbaijan on the eve of the anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, expressing sympathy for the people of Azerbaijan.

Special ties between the heads of state were emphasized during the meeting. They also spoke of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and emphasized the importance of solving the dispute in a peaceful manner and through negotiations in compliance with the norms of international law.

The sides exchanged views on Azerbaijan`s cooperation with European organizations.