Azerbaijan, Baku, June 9 / Trend, K. Zarbaliyeva /
The Azerbaijani Defence Minister, Colonel General Safar Abiyev has today left for Brussels to attend a meeting of defence ministers of countries - participants of NATO's peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said.
The foundation for cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO was laid through signing a program-document within the framework of the Partnership for Peace May 4 1994. Azerbaijan was one of the 27 OSCE member countries to join the program.
In April 1996, an official document envisaging concrete directions in the cooperation was signed within the framework of the Partnership for Peace. Now, Azerbaijan is fulfilling about 50 tasks in conformity with the program.
August 3, 2005, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed the Decree on "Approval of the Action Plan on Individual Partnership between the Azerbaijani Republic and NATO".
Azerbaijan and NATO are now cooperating within the second stage of the Action Plan on Development of Individual Partnership between Azerbaijan and NATO.
Since 1999, the Azerbaijani troops have being providing support to peacekeeping operations of NATO in Kosovo, and since 2002 - in Afghanistan.