DUSHANBE, December 26, 2011, Asia-Plus — Tajik and Azeri ruling political parties have signed a cooperation agreement.
A memorandum of cooperation between the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT) and Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan) Party was singed in Baku, Azerbaijan at the end of last week during a visit of the PDPT deputy chairman Asror Latipov to Baku, the PDPT source said.
The document was inked by Asror Latipov and Ali Ahmedov, the Executive Secretary of the Yeni Azerbaijan.
In the course of the talks, the two considered a broad range of issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, the source added.
Founded in 1993, the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan is the biggest political party in Tajikistan. Its chairman is President Emomali Rahmon. The party controls some 70 percent of seats in the lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of the parliament. It is the largest party, boasting more than 150,000 registered members. The official newspaper of the party is
Minbari Khalq
.
Yeni Azerbaijan is the ruling political party in Azerbaijan. It was formed on December 18, 1992 by the former President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, who led it until his retirement and death in 2003. It is now led by his son, Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father as the party leader and as President of Azerbaijan since 2003. The party”s stated ideologies are lawfulness, secularism, and Azerbaijani nationalism. At the elections (November 5, 2000 and January 7, 2001), the party won 62.3% of the popular vote and 75 out of 125 seats. At the 2010 parliamentary elections, it won 72 out of 125 seats. Presently, Yeni Azerbaijan Party reportedly has 518 thousand members.
