Azerbaijan, NATO discuss cooperation, normalisation with Armenia PHOTO

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhan Bayramov and NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia Javier Colomina met on May 26 to discuss cooperation and normalisation of ties with Armenia.

The sides focused on the importance of conducting a regular political dialogue and developing practical cooperation between NATO and Azerbaijan as a partner country contributing to peace and security in the region and beyond, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Bayramov informed the Colomina about the Azerbaijani-Armenian normalisation, the steps taken by Azerbaijan to promote the peace agenda, and military and political provocations of Armenia that damage the peace process.

Colomina stressed that NATO supports the process of normalisation of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations.

As part of the visit, the NATO official earlier met Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev.

The sides discussed bilateral cooperation, as well as Azerbaijani-Armenian normalisation.

Having received Colomina on May 23, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed with him the situation on the border with Azerbaijan.

According to the Armenian government, the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the demarcation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and ensuring the security and stability of the border and the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh were also mentioned during the meeting between Pashinyan and Colomina.

Relations with NATO started in 1992 when Azerbaijan joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. This forum for dialogue was succeeded in 1997 by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together all Allies and partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Bilateral cooperation began when Azerbaijan joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 1994. Thanks to regular participation in PfP activities, Azerbaijan has been able to contribute actively to Euro-Atlantic security by supporting NATO-led peace-support operations.

Azerbaijan’s participation in the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP) since 1997 has allowed NATO and individual Allies to assist Azerbaijan in developing selected units to improve interoperability with those of the allies.

NATO and Azerbaijan started work on a jointly agreed Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) in 2008 to integrate NATO standards into the teaching methodologies and curricula of the country’s Professional Military Education (PME) institutions.

In 2018, Azerbaijan asked NATO to also involve the Military High School, a pre-commissioning school, in DEEP.