NATO SUPPORTS AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

Trend News Agency
Sept 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 17 September /Trend News corr. R.Novruzov/
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supports the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan and is interested to develop relations with the
strategically important country. The statement was made in Brussels
at the 26+1 meeting on Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation within Individual
Partnership Plan on 17 September, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said
to Trend News.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and the officials of
the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of National Security and Ministry
of Interior Affairs represented the country at the meeting.

Mammadyarov touched upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict at the
meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the
ambassadors of NATO countries. He said the conflict must be settled
only on the basis of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.

The foundation for cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO was
laid through signing a program-document within the framework of the
Partnership for Peace on 4 May 1994. Azerbaijan was one of the 27
OSCE member countries to join the program.

In April 1996, an official document envisaging concrete directions
in the cooperation was signed within the framework of the Partnership
for Peace. Now, Azerbaijan is fulfilling about 50 tasks in conformity
with the program.

On 3 August, 2005, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed the Decree
on Approval of the Action Plan on Individual Partnership between the
Azerbaijan Republic and NATO.

Azerbaijan and NATO are now cooperating within the second stage of
the Action Plan on Development of Individual Partnership between
Azerbaijan and NATO.