Interfax
Aug 16 2004

Azerbaijan doesn’t need to join military blocs – ambassador

Moscow. (Interfax) – Azerbaijan sees no need to join military blocs
such as NATO, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia, Ramiz Rizayev, told
Interfax on Friday.

“We do not see any need to participate in any military blocs or
organizations,” Rizayev said.

“As for cooperation that meets the interests of the parties, this is
a routine feature of modern times,” he said.

“I can assume that if we did not have the [Nagorno] Karabakh
conflict, Azerbaijan would possibly declare its military neutrality,”
the ambassador said.

Baku is still concerned over military contacts between Moscow and
Yerevan, Rizayev said. “I will not say that there is no concern. This
issue is particularly worrisome as the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
has not been settled yet,” he said.

Azerbaijan hopes that “the wisdom of the Russian authorities will
eventually prevail” in this issue “and these problems that we have
inherited from old times will be resolved as well,” he said.

“As for Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation in the military sphere, I can
remind you about one quite significant fact. We succeeded in settling
all issues related to the functioning of the Russia’s Gabala radar
station in Azerbaijan. This is a very important step on our part
toward Russia,” the ambassador said.

For details, see today’s Interfax-Diplomatic Panorama. The full
version of Rizayev’s interview is available on the
website.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress