Azernews.Az

Security in the Caspian and Central Asia regions topped the agenda of the 68th Rose Roth seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held in Baku last week.
Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov said the exchange of views during the event would help to strengthen parliamentary support in solving the problems faced by the two regions. He said the fact that security issues were high on the agenda indicated the alliance's interest in the region. The military bloc is also looking to achieve gradual strengthening of cooperation among regional states.
Asadov went on to say that integration into organizations working in the political, security, economic and other fields in the European and Euro-Atlantic region was Azerbaijan's strategic objective.
"Given the country's place and influence within the North-Atlantic alliance's international relations system, we have outlined developing cooperation with NATO as one of the priority directions of our foreign policy," he said.
Asadov said Azerbaijan viewed this cooperation as a valuable opportunity to contribute to overall security, economic and democratic development in the Euro-Atlantic region. He emphasized that the NATO leadership was also attaching great importance to collaboration with the country.
The speaker emphasized that Azerbaijan had a strategic location in the South Caucasus region, citing the country's vast economic potential and great importance for Europe due to its being crossed by vital transit routes.
Asadov recalled that Azerbaijan joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program in 1994, after which its relations with the alliance assumed a wider scale. "By doing so, Azerbaijan gained the opportunity to be part of the world's collective security system through various NATO institutions and to bring its own security into compliance with the international security system."
Azerbaijani troops are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan within NATO's peacekeeping mission.
Asadov highlighted that Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to have joined the alliance's Individual Partnership Plan, which plays a great role in boosting both short-term and long-term cooperation with the military bloc.
"Azerbaijan is capitalizing on the Plan in conducting reform with a view to bringing its relevant bodies into compliance with NATO standards," Asadov said, adding that Azerbaijan had applied these standards in its military, education and training programs.
NATO PA President Jose Lello said in his remarks that the three-day event was the second Rose Roth seminar being held in the Azerbaijani capital and the sixth one in the South Caucasus region. He confirmed that holding frequent functions testified to the alliance's interest in the region.
Lello emphasized that all the three S. Caucasus states - Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia - were cooperating with NATO. He said the alliance was currently enlarging its scope.
"A number of countries have officially applied for NATO membership, while a slew of others are collaborating with the alliance more and more closely. A third group of states is looking to get the taste of cooperating with NATO," Lello said.
He said the bloc had started placing a special emphasis on security in the regions located close to its borders.
"NATO is particularly interested in ensuring security in Afghanistan, the Balkans and S. Caucasus. We are also looking to cooperate with Central Asian states," the assembly president said.
Lello welcomed the participation at the seminar of representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for the first time. He said the Central Asian republics were advancing along the challenging road of independence.
The NATO official said such seminars were of great importance for countries seeking cooperation with the alliance, as these discussions help to answer a number of questions of concern for these states.