Speech
by
Colonel-General Safar Abiyev,
Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan
Dear Chairman, Dear Colleagues,
Allow me, first of all, to express my sincere gratitude to organizers
of this meeting for the great facilities established for the mission to
be successful.
I am very pleased to be given the opportunity to introduce this important
subject today as well as to express my hope that a complete document will
be soon presented.
The PARP Ministerial Guidance is important in that it is the foundation
for the work undertaken by Partners to develop their forces and capabilities
in a structured way
Taking note of the Guidance, I 'd like to underline importance of this
paper and draw your attention to some of these issues:
- We are agreeing that existing package of Partnership Goals should
be suitable to changing conditions.
- In our opinion, bilateral programs between Allies and Partners are
very important which are going on to play important role in providing
assistance for partners towards the achievement Partnership Goals and
development forces for their interoperability to those of Allies. Bilateral
assistance is also important and the expansion of the PMSC Clearing
House mechanism will help to ensure that such assistance is targeted
effectively
- We support the creation of an electronic database for easing the
task of information management presented by the Survey of Overall PfP
Interoperability.
- I would also urge Allies to make every effort to release to Partners
those remaining documents necessary for the successful implementation
of Partnership Goals.
The Republic of Azerbaijan actively participates the PfP while following
selected course of Euro-Atlantic integration. There is being done transition
in our Armed Forces into the NATO standards. We have expanded our Individual
Partnership Programme to include plans to host measures together with
NATO on the territory of Azerbaijan, including also multinational peacekeeping
exercises.
In this regard, this November the "COOPERATIVE DETERMINATION 2001"
Multinational CPX to be conducted in Azerbaijan as well as the "COOPERATIVE
BEST EFFORT" Multinational Field LIVEX is expected to be held in
2003.
One of the most important directions within the cooperation of our Armed
Forces to NATO is the participation in the PARP aimed to establish forces
to become interoperable with NATO Allies. Our joining the PARP and conducting
the successful activity aimed to implement undertaken 27 Partnership Goals
confirm the serious approach of Azerbaijan to the PARP
There is being continued the training of forces contributed by the Republic
of Azerbaijan in accordance with its Presentation Document to interoperable
with the NATO forces in the NATO-led Peace Support Operations. The active
participation of Azerbaijan in PSO in Kosovo demonstrates it in a best
way. There is the successful contribution of the Azerbaijani platoon in
support of KFOR as a part of Multinational KFOR.
In common with the significant difficulties, we find the language requirements
to be one of our most difficult challenges aimed to implement the Partnership
Goals. In this respect, we welcome the recognition in the Ministerial
Guidance of the role that the Training and Education Enhancement Programme
can play in implementing these PGs.
I must emphasize the importance of the 2001 PARP Ministerial Guidance
to Partners and Allies alike and hope that all concerned will redouble
their efforts to ensure that the document is concluded successfully in
the near future.
Dear Chairman, Dear Colleagues,
Taking this opportunity I would like also to touch the problems Azerbaijan
faced in the process of integration into Euro-Atlantic structures.
The unsettled Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is the obstacle on the way
of full-fledged participation of Azerbaijan in the all-European political
and economical integration processes. Lately, the OSCE Minsk Group activity's
energization has been outlined with the purpose to seek ways to solve
this problem.
The meetings and negotiations between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia with participation of the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group
are conducted.
The demand of Azerbaijani nation is that this problem has to be solved
within the framework of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan based on the
international principle of the current border inviolability.
No doubts, that settlement of conflicts in the South Caucasus will bring
both the prosperity and stability to the Caucasian nations and states.
However, there is being done active concentration of arms in Armenia,
and the creation process of joint Regional Combat Group is under way.
It is difficult to understand what kind of border security of Armenia
is being talked, which as though have great importance for the security
of the whole region, while this state has unprecedentedly violated the
internationally recognized Azerbaijani borders, occupied 20% of our territory
where a big amount of out-control both the arms and combat equipment have
been deployed. Who threatens the security of Armenia which is a state-aggressor
and source of terrorism and separatism, and how this country can be the
part of the PfP Programme?
Azerbaijan takes with concern the statements of some of the Collective
Security Treaty officials on their intention to provide the security of
region where two States out of three are not the Members of this Treaty.
Such ways aimed at achieving both the stability and security are doom
in failure in advance, such actions are intended to keep tension in the
region.
The strategical and geographical position as well as the presence of
rich natural resources and economical potential, provide Azerbaijan with
important role as a link between East and West. In the light of above,
I believe that active position of the partner nations on all noted sensitive
problems and their real desire to promote to abolish both the present
risks and threats will undoubtedly facilitate to establish the peace and
stability within the South Caucasus as well as to sooner developing the
universal political-economical Euro-Asian space.
Thanks for attention.
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