Azerbaijan, Baku, 26 February / Trend corr I. Alizade / The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev applied to the Parliament, initiating a law on withdrawal of the Azerbaijani peacekeepers from Kosovo. "The President's appeal says that the situation in the former Serbia changed and therefore Azerbaijan should re-consider presence of its peacekeepers in Kosovo," Aydin Mirzazade, a member of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission for Security and Defence told Trend on 26 February.
According to Mirzazade, the Parliament will give a positive response to the President's appeal.
In 1997, a peacekeeping detachment was formed at the National Army of Azerbaijan. And a peacekeeping battalion was established later. The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan in Iraq number 150 soldiers, in Kosovo - 34. The Azerbaijani soldiers control 18 villages in Kosovo. There are 45 Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Afghanistan. They patrol Kabul.
Since 1999 Kosovo region, which is formally a part of Serbia, has been controlled by the UN. On 17 February the Parliament of Kosovo unanimously ratified the declaration on its independence. Some 30 countries, including the USA, UK, Germany, France, Turkey, recognized Kosovo's independence. Russia, Spain, China, Greece, and Georgia support the position of Belgrade and are not going to recognize the independence of the region. Azerbaijan also refused to recognize the Kosovo's independence.
According to the Azerbaijani legislation, the Parliament should approve of the decision on sending Azerbaijani peacekeepers abroad and withdrawing them.
In two days the Commission will consider the issue. The final decision will be made at the parliamentary meeting to take place on 4 March, Mirzazade said.