NATO to identify further co-op prospects

The Nato deputy secretary general, chief of the defense planning and operations department Dr. Edgar Buckley left Baku Friday. While in Azerbaijan, he met with the vice-speaker of the Azerbaijan Parliament Ziyafat Asgarov and Defense Minister Gen. Safar Abiyev.

In a meeting at the MOD on Thursday Mr. Buckley approved of the steps Baku has been taking to strengthen peace in the Caucasus and cooperation with Nato. He said Caucasus is the most important region for Nato from the viewpoint of strategic and political cooperation.

According to him, Nato is content with the current level of collaboration with Azerbaijan and intends to identify core directions for further cooperation.

Gen. Abiyev informed the distinguished guest of the developments in the Caucasus and Azerbaijan over the past 200 years, sources of Armenian aggression sown by the Czarist Russia and its consequences. He spoke in detail of the relations between Azerbaijan and Nato as part of the "Partnership for Peace" program.

The parties then discussed cooperation prospects between Nato and Azerbaijan.