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Baku hosts NATO-Azerbaijan partnership conference

05 May 2009 11:06 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva â€“ APA. An international conference dedicated to 15th anniversary of Azerbaijan-NATO partnership took place in Baku on Tuesday. The conference was organized by the NATO International School of Azerbaijan for deepening of political dialogue between Azerbaijan and the alliance, APA reports. Euro-Atlantic security problems, development of NATO-Azerbaijan relations over the past 15 years, achievements of NATO-Azerbaijan partnership were discussed at the three-panel conference. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer addressed the participants via video-conference. He called Azerbaijan as a reliable partner for NATO.

Former foreign minister of Turkey, NATO senior civil officer in Afghanistan Hikmet Cetin mentioned the security issues and noted that one of the important problems is the settlement of Georgian and Nagorny Karabakh conflicts. â€œSolution to these conflicts will make great contribution to the regional stability and securityâ€. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov said Azerbaijanâ€™s NATO membership could be an additional way led to full integration of Azerbaijan into the Euro-Atlantic space. â€œNATO membership is not only way for the security development. The countryâ€™s geographical position and other factors play important role in the NATO membership. Azerbaijan-NATO partnership strengthened control over the borders of our country, energy security and anti-terror operations. We are working for extension of Azerbaijan-NATO partnershipâ€.