NATO conference in Baku discusses South Caucasus security

Turan news agency
20 May 05

Baku, 20 May: A conference was held at the Crescent Beach Hotel today
on the topic “Security and stability in the South Caucasus”. Experts
from NATO and partner countries attended the conference.

The president of the NATO Education Centre, (?Vasiliy Sekares),
noted that the South Caucasus was an important region for Europe. It
is located on the EU borders and Europe understands its geopolitical
importance. The conference will discuss the start of the process of
cooperation with regional countries, he said.

Romanian ambassador to Azerbaijan Nicolae Urece said that in accordance
with the new security doctrine of Romania, conflicts in the South
Caucasus pose a threat to Romania. Therefore, Romania is interested
in stability in the Black Sea region.

“We believe that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict should be settled
within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and in
line with international law,” the ambassador said.

[Azerbaijani] Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said that Azerbaijan
and Georgia were cooperating well in the South Caucasus. “Safe access”
was created as a result of this cooperation. Azerbaijan uses this
access to export its natural resources to world markets, and Georgia
gets revenue as a transit country. But Armenia does not have this
access, Azimov said.

A special programme has to be drawn up for the security of the South
Caucasus, Azimov said.

The conference is continuing its work.