Researcher rules out Azerbaijan’s NATO bid in coming years
Azerbaijan’s membership in NATO is not expected to
be on the agenda of bilateral cooperation until 2015, a local
researcher says.
Ildirim Mammadov, director of the Military Analytical Research Center, believes that until then, Baku will continue pursuing a balanced policy with regard to NATO and Russia.
Mammadov also said that as part of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the military bloc, defense industry and security reforms will be expedited.
According to the analyst, NATO’s new concept is expected to include points envisioning the alliance’s mediation in resolving "frozen" conflicts. The document will particularly underline NATO’s honoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. Mammadov said that, if this takes place, Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the bloc will enter a new realm.
"In particular, NATO’s showing its respect for the territorial integrity of states will affect Azerbaijan’s priorities," the analyst said.
Armenia’s troops have been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory since a lengthy war in the 1990s, despite four UN resolutions on unconditional pullout of its armed forces.
NATO’s new strategic concept is to be adopted by the end of 2010. Both NATO members and partner states have been involved in drafting the concept. The group preparing the document is overseen by the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. It may be passed at the alliance’s next summit due in Lisbon in December.
Azerbaijan and NATO established relations with the country’s joining the alliance’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in May 1994. In April 1996, a formal document was signed outlining areas of Baku’s cooperation with the alliance.
President Ilham Aliyev enacted a decree in August 2005 endorsing the Individual Partnership Plan (IPAP) on Azerbaijan’s cooperation with NATO. Baku is presently collaborating with the bloc within the second stage of the plan.*
Ildirim Mammadov, director of the Military Analytical Research Center, believes that until then, Baku will continue pursuing a balanced policy with regard to NATO and Russia.
Mammadov also said that as part of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the military bloc, defense industry and security reforms will be expedited.
According to the analyst, NATO’s new concept is expected to include points envisioning the alliance’s mediation in resolving "frozen" conflicts. The document will particularly underline NATO’s honoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. Mammadov said that, if this takes place, Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the bloc will enter a new realm.
"In particular, NATO’s showing its respect for the territorial integrity of states will affect Azerbaijan’s priorities," the analyst said.
Armenia’s troops have been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory since a lengthy war in the 1990s, despite four UN resolutions on unconditional pullout of its armed forces.
NATO’s new strategic concept is to be adopted by the end of 2010. Both NATO members and partner states have been involved in drafting the concept. The group preparing the document is overseen by the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. It may be passed at the alliance’s next summit due in Lisbon in December.
Azerbaijan and NATO established relations with the country’s joining the alliance’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in May 1994. In April 1996, a formal document was signed outlining areas of Baku’s cooperation with the alliance.
President Ilham Aliyev enacted a decree in August 2005 endorsing the Individual Partnership Plan (IPAP) on Azerbaijan’s cooperation with NATO. Baku is presently collaborating with the bloc within the second stage of the plan.*
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