As Ednews informed that Hikmet Hajiyev, the Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, is on a visit to Brussels, Belgium. H. Hajiyev met with NATO officials and Assistant Secretary General David Cutler.
During the meetings, H. Hajiyev discussed the current situation and prospects of the Azerbaijan-NATO partnership, as well as regional issues. He informed the participants about the steps taken towards the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the restoration and construction works carried out in liberated territories, the mine problem, the establishment of a checkpoint on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border and other issues of mutual interest. The parties exchanged views on Azerbaijan's important role in transportation and energy supply.
Whilst commenting on the meeting between H. Hajiyev and NATO officials British journalist and political scientist Neil Watson said to Ednews that Azerbaijan joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council one year after regaining its independence in 1992 and joined the Partnership for Peace programme in 1994:
“It has been an Associate Member of NATO for 22 years and joined the NATO Operational Capabilities Concept two years later. It regularly hosts NATO delegations. In my view, yesterday’s bilateral meeting, headed by Hikmet Hajiyev, was extremely positive. The current and future role of Azerbaijan in terms of communications and energy security was at the forefront of discussions. The value of Azerbaijan’s pivotal geopolitical location to NATO was highlighted and both sides expressed the need for peace in the South Caucasus and their desire to extend NATO-Azerbaijani relations. In my view, it would be logical for NATO to invite Azerbaijan to become a full NATO member.”
He consider that the enemies of Azerbaijan are those of NATO - Russia and Iran:
“First and foremost, the enemies of Azerbaijan are those of NATO - Russia and Iran. It would represent a bulwark against Russia and against Putin’s attempts to extend the Russian sphere. Azerbaijan is westward facing and progressive and represents energy security for many South East Europe countries formerly reliant either completely or partially on Gazprom. Azerbaijan would also benefit from having protection provided by NATO. Azerbaijan’s relations with both Israel and Turkey would also be valuable for NATO. The only question is whether full membership is very desirable for Azerbaijan. It values its non-aligned status and has excellent relations across the East and West. It would not want these to be impacted detrimentally in any way.”
Regarding the possibility of Armenia becoming a member of NATO, the expert said that mainly due to its monoreligious Christian nature and the misinformation spread by the international Armenian diaspora, some NATO members may believe Armenian membership is desirable:
“Furthermore, membership would be another strategic victory in the attempts to thwart Putin’s ambitions. However, to join NATO it would be necessary for Armenia to reject Russia and Iran. Given its history as a Russian satellite in the South Caucasus and the independence movement of the South Azerbaijanis, this is not going to happen.”
“If Azerbaijan becomes a NATO member, potentially a NATO fleet could be located in the Caspian. However, this would be extremely provocative for Russia and I believe would only happen under extreme circumstances” he concluded.
Ulviyya Shahin
