Azerbaijan named reliable partner of NATO

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pave named Azerbaijan a reliable partner of NATO.

He made the remarks at a meeting with First Deputy Defense Minister of Azerbaijan, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Colonel General Najmaddin Sadikov in Baku on September 7.

Pavel highly appreciated Azerbaijan’s participation in the fight against terrorism and noted the significant contribution of the country in providing airspace for cargo transportation within the framework of peacekeeping operations.

He also pointed out high professionalism of Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Afghanistan.

Expressing satisfaction with his visit to Azerbaijan, the general also expressed deep gratitude to the leadership of the country for assisting in holding a bilateral meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov in Baku.

Sadikov, in turn, noted successful development of military ties with NATO and spoke about military cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO.

He also noted the activities of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces within the framework of various NATO programs, as well as Azerbaijan’s contribution to the non-combat Resolute Support Mission held in Afghanistan.

Sadikov highlighted the merits of Azerbaijan’s national leader Heydar Aliyev and the head of state, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the country’s Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev in establishing fruitful and trusting relations between Azerbaijan and NATO.

Touching upon the military and political situation in the region, Sadikov emphasized the importance of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the norms of international law. He highly appreciated NATO’s position regarding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and expressed confidence that the organization will continue its efforts in this regard.

The history of Azerbaijan-NATO relationship dates back to March 1992 when Azerbaijan together with some Central and Eastern European countries, joined a newly established consultative forum – the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC), which was transformed into the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council later in 1997.

Azerbaijan's cooperation with NATO is also carried out in the framework of the Partnership for Peace program. The country makes significant contributions to freight transport for peacekeeping operations, while Azerbaijani servicemen contribute to ensuring security in Afghanistan.

Besides, NATO keeps in the 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.