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Special representative: I asked Azerbaijan to support NATO

05 July 2011 16:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Viktoria Dementyeva â€“ APA. NATO Secretary Generalâ€™s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai, who is visiting Azerbaijan, met with President Ilham Aliyev, APA reports. James Appathurai told journalists that he expressed his gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the contribution of the Azerbaijani peacekeepers to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
â€œAzerbaijan is contributing to NATO in Afghanistan through peacekeeping contingent and as a transit country. I asked Azerbaijan to continue supporting NATO in Afghanistan as a transit country,â€ he said.

NATOâ€™s representative said bilateral cooperation was discussed during the meeting.
â€œWe are already cooperating concerning several specific issues. But we can cooperate more closely,â€ he said.

James Appathurai said at the meeting with Azerbaijani President they touched on Nagorno Karabakh problem.
â€œAzerbaijani President expressed his position concerning the conflict. NATO does not participate in the negotiations on the resolution of Karabakh problem. But on my behalf I want to say that there is no military solution to this conflict. The conflict can be solved only peacefully. Ilham Aliyev also shares this position. Azerbaijan remains committed to the peaceful solution to the conflict,â€ he said.

James Appathurai noted that he held meetings in several ministries of Azerbaijan. He said discussions were held concerning the start of the third stage of Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) signed between NATO and Azerbaijan.
â€œWe are holding discussions concerning the next stage. Cooperation continues between Azerbaijan and NATO,â€ he said.

NATOâ€™s representative said they intend to strengthen cooperation in Afghanistan, energy security and cyber security.