STATEMENT OF THE FOREIGN MINISTRY OF AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC
[September 14, 2004, 22:14:22]

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Sept 14 2004

Foreign ministry of the Azerbaijan Republic expresses deep regret
in connection with cancellation of the exercise Co-operative Best
Effort 2004, which was scheduled to begin on September 14-26, 2004, in
Azerbaijan in the frame of Partnership for Peace Program of the NATO.
The Republic of Azerbaijan considered these exercises in its territory
a landmark and important event on the way to integration to the
Euro-Atlantic space and had created every condition to conduct them.

The Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation links have successfully developed
in the last years and as a result, the Republic of Azerbaijan as
one of the active partners of NATO had presented the management of
the Organization the Operation Plan on Individual Partnership in May
current year.

As a military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan Republic,
the country, where the exercises were to conduct, 20 percent of
the territories are still under occupation and over one million of
Azerbaijanis are refugees and IDPs.

Leadership of this country holds a sharp and non-constructive position
in the carried out peace negotiations. In this case, for Azerbaijan,
participation of the Armenian militaries in the exercises in the
territory of the country was impossible.

The Azerbaijan side once again states its adherence to the principles
of the Euro-Atlantic values and deepening its partnership with the
Northern Atlantic Alliance and expresses hope that the years-old
successful and effective partnership relations between NATO and the
Republic of Azerbaijan will develop dynamically in the years coming.