Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5
By Emin Aliyev - Trend:
The U.S. is deeply grateful to the people and government of Azerbaijan for their efforts in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Eric Rubin said in Baku on Dec. 5.
"Azerbaijan plays a very important role as a key ISAF partner. It also plays a very important role in facilitating land and air transit to and from Afghanistan," Rubin said.
He went on to say that the U.S. believes that Azerbaijan will not only continue playing an important role but also can contribute to mission change and help all the countries involved, as well as train and prepare the Afghan military and security forces.
"We believe that military transit to and from Afghanistan will continue for quite some time and the number of missions will decline. This is an important opportunity for Azerbaijan to realize its ambitions, its vision, and share it with neighbouring countries," Rubin said.
He noted that participation in such projects will positively affect Azerbaijan's development.
While showing solidarity with Afghan people and the international community, Azerbaijan joined the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation.
The country doubled the number of its servicemen in 2009. Currently, some 90 Azerbaijani servicemen are serving in ISAF.
Azerbaijan decided to expand its activity in Afghanistan's non-military areas. Real cooperation began from Afghan specialists' training in mine clearing.
The preparatory operations on Azerbaijani military doctors' activity in Afghan hospitals, Afghan people's education at the medical university, the participation of medical personnel in Azerbaijan's educational courses and Afghan military personnel's participation in educational courses at the military academy and other military schools, as well as Afghan students' education in Azerbaijan are underway.