21 percent of Azerbaijanis see NATO as protection

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to 21 percent of Azerbaijanis, is a protection for them, according to a survey published by the American company Gallup.

The survey, conducted in 2016, revealed that 16 percent of Azerbaijani respondents believe the Alliance is threat to them and 44 percent do not perceive it either as protection or as a threat.

The NATO was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, some 37 percent of Georgians see NATO as a defense, 8 percent – as a threat, 35 percent believe that the Alliance – neither the defense nor the threat.

In addition, the Alliance is seen as the protection of 8 percent of Armenian citizens. In this South Caucasian country, 20 percent see the NATO as a threat, while 38 percent do not stick to any of the two points.

The survey involved a thousand people older than 15 from each country. The exception is Russia, where was interrogated 2,000 adult respondents, 67 of whom regard the alliance as a threat to them.

Azerbaijan's cooperation with the NATO is carried out in the framework of the Partnership for Peace program.

The country also cooperates with NATO in Afghanistan – the peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving there since November 20, 2002.  Currently, 90 servicemen, 2 medical officers and 2 sappers of Azerbaijani Armed Forces are participating in a mission in Afghanistan.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan allowed the NATO planes carrying non-combat loads for a mission in Afghanistan to fly through Azerbaijan's airspace and to use the country's airports. About 40 percent of all cargo destined for the NATO mission in Afghanistan pass through Baku.

In addition, Azerbaijan has for many years participated in peacekeeping missions in Iraq and Kosovo.

Another noteworthy fact is that NATO keeps in focus the issue of security of the oil and gas pipelines in the South Caucasus region that pass through the territory of Azerbaijan as well.

The Embassy of Hungary in Baku serves as the Contact Point of NATO in Azerbaijan, 2017. Previously, these functions were entrusted to the diplomatic mission of Romania to Azerbaijan.