Azerbaijan continues to contribute NATO-led peace operations
By Jamila Babayeva
Azerbaijan actively participates in all international support operations aimed at promoting peace and stability.
Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to join the global anti-terror war after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S.
The country has been actively participating in the NATO-led ISAF operation in Afghanistan since 2003 and Azerbaijan was one of first countries to open its air space to U.S. and Allied flights crossing from the country.
Some 40 percent of the food provisions supplied to the U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan were transported through Azerbaijan.
Currently, 94 soldiers, two military doctors and two engineer officers of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are involved in international peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF).
The U.S. is especially grateful to Azerbaijan for its partnership in NATO missions in Afghanistan.
"We are especially grateful for Azerbaijan's partnership in NATO missions in Afghanistan", said Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement dedicated to the Republic Day on May 28.
Azerbaijan is among eight partner countries that have confirmed their presence in Afghanistan after 2014.
Azerbaijan being an ally in the fight against terrorism has been a victim of terror itself. Just in the years of independence, Armenian terrorist organizations have carried out more than 30 terrorist attacks against Azerbaijan, in which more than 2,000 people were killed.
Furthermore, Armenia continues to use the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as a transit corridor for the activities of transnational organized crime. The major terror groups are trained in the occupied territories and they are used in numerous countries.
Azerbaijani top officials urged the international community to prosecute Armenian terrorists and those who defend them. But the international community and international organizations remain cold to Azerbaijan's appeals for sanctions against Armenia.