Azerbaijan, Baku, 28 February / Trend corr I. Alizade/ Due to the situation which has occurred, after Kosovo separated from Serbia and one-sidedly declared its independence, the Azerbaijani Standing Parliamentary Committee for Security and Defence agreed to withdraw the Azerbaijani peacekeepers from Kosovo.
On 28 February, the meeting of the Committee discussed the legislative initiative of the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to withdraw the Azerbaijani peacekeepers from Kosovo.
The document submitted by the President to the Parliament says that the situation in the former Serbia has considerably changed, and therefore Azerbaijan should re-consider the presence of its peacekeepers in Kosovo.
" Azerbaijan considers Kosovo's one-sided declaration of its independence, to be illegal and contradicting with the legal norms. Azerbaijan does not intend to recognize Kosovo's independence. Therefore, the Azerbaijani peacekeepers cannot stay there," the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Ziyafat Askarov said.
In 1997, a peacekeeping detachment was formed at the National Army of Azerbaijan. And, later, a peacekeeping battalion was also established. 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 and they patrol over Kabul.
Since 1999, Kosovo region, formally a part of Serbia, has been controlled by the UN. On 17 Feb, the Parliament of Kosovo unanimously ratified the declaration of 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 of their withdrawal as well.
The Commission backed the initiative on withdrawal of the peacekeepers, but the final decision will be made at the parliamentary meeting -expected to take place on 4 March.