Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 26 / Trend T.Hajiyev /
NATO is interested in the resolution of conflicts in the South Caucasus region, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons said at the discussions held with the Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian public members at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.
"NATO is interested in resolving regional conflicts and supports political negotiations held in this direction. The alliance's Lisbon summit fixed that the conflicts in South Caucasus should be resolved in the framework of the territorial integrity of states," Simmons said. Expert on security issues and teacher of the Baku State University Bakhtiyar Aslanbeyli, who attended the meeting, informed Trend.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Brussels hosted the discussions between NATO and the Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian public members over the conflicts in South Caucasus. The discussions were held in the framework of the NATO - South Caucasus cooperation in the field of public diplomacy.
The event mulled the results of the Lisbon summit, NATO's policy in the South Caucasus, South Caucasus countries' integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures, current status and future prospects of the NATO-Russia relations, NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and prospects of the alliance's cooperation with this country.
Simmons said NATO keeps the doors open for new members, including Azerbaijan, but NATO's expansion requires not only the Alliance's activities, but also certain steps by new potential members in this direction and mutual co-operation.
Noting that the South Ossetia and Abkhazia are under the control of Russian military forces, Aslanbeyli said Georgia's admission to NATO is directly related to the settlement of these conflicts, and in general, the Euro-Atlantic integration of the region will positively impact the settlement of the conflicts in South Caucasus.
Expressing protest to the NATO Public Diplomacy Division's memo, in which Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia were shown as the disputed territories, Aslanbeyli said the publication of such wrong information in the NATO editions unacceptable.
The New IPAP is under discussion and will soon be adopted, Simmons said replying to "Doctrine" Journalists' Military Research Centre Chairman, Military Analyst Casur Sumerinli's question about the prospects of the Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation.
This document will determine the main directions and priorities of the Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation in the next two years.
Following the discussions with the NATO officials, the Azerbaijani delegation held a meeting with Azerbaijani diplomats at the Azerbaijan representation at NATO. During the meeting, the delegation mulled the Azerbaijan representation's activity, NGOs co-operation and joint projects with the NATO structures and NATO's Public Diplomacy, as well as exchanged views on the direction of the activity.
NATO cooperates with the South Caucasus states - Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia in accordance with programs of the "Partnership for Peace "and" Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), as well as "Planning and Analysis Process".
The foundation for cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO was laid through the signing of a document within the framework of the Partnership for Peace on May 4, 1994. Azerbaijan was one of 27 OSCE member countries to join the program.
Azerbaijan has been cooperating with NATO within IPAP since 2005. The program was originally designed to last two years. Today, cooperation is held within the second phase of the Individual Partnership Action Plan between Azerbaijan and NATO, which covers 2008-2010.
Those documents define the goals and intentions of NATO's talks with the partner countries on reforms in the defense, security and military policy.
The primary areas of cooperation include the establishment of full democratic control over the armed forces, defense planning and defense budgeting, and the reestablishment of military structures through NATO norms and standards.
Since 1999, Azerbaijani troops have provided support for NATO peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, and since 2002 in Afghanistan.