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TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2006
PA NATO to Continue Playing Constructive Role in Assisting Regional
Dialogue - Head of Defense Committee
Source: Trend
Author: A.Mammadova
13.10.2006
Trend's exclusive interview with the head of Committee on Defense and
Security of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, Zachary Selden, which
is member of a delegation to visit Azerbaijan shortly
Question: What are the objectives of your forthcoming visit to
Azerbaijan? Who do you plan to visit during the visit?
Answer: Our objective is to allow our members to educate themselves
about the developments in Azerbaijan. To that end, we plan to meet
with high level officials in the Ministries of Defence, Foreign
Affairs and other relevant government institutions. We also will
meet with Ambassadors from NATO countries and members of civic
organizations. In addition, our visit is an opportunity for the
delegation to meet with members of the Azeri delegation to the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly and their colleagues on the relevant
committees in the parliament.
Question: Will your visit to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan be
followed by new regional report or alterations to your previous
report, introduced during the spring session of PA NATO?
Answer: We will update the spring report with our findings from this
visit and the final version of the report will be made available to
the public in December.
Question: Have any sanctions been applied to official Yerevan to
prevent reiteration of the incidents like that one occurred during
the visit of a NATO Representative Mr. Vahit Erdem to Armenia?
Answer: The President of the Assembly has drawn the attention of the
Speaker of the Armenian Parliament to the issue. No further action
is expected.
Question: What assistance could PA NATO provide in the resolution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
Answer The NATO Parliamentary Assembly will continue to play a
constructive role by fostering discussion among the interested
parties. For example, we organized the Rose-Roth Seminar in Sochi,
Russia this past June to promote regional dialogue. It is vital that
any settlement of the regional conflicts be reached through dialogue
and consensus-building among the states and peoples of the region.
Our role is to help promote that dialogue and allow our members the
opportunity to exchange views with their counterparts in the region.
We plan to hold additional seminars in the region in 2007 to offer
more opportunities for discussion.
Question: During visits to Baku the NATO leadership noted that a path
for Azerbaijan's entrance to the Euro-Atlantic alliance is open. How
do you estimate the implementation of the Individual Partnership
Action Plan between Azerbaijan and NATO? Is it necessary for an
addition to this document?
Answer: We maintain that the path to Euro-Atlantic integration should
remain open to all those who aspire to it and share the values
embodied in the Transatlantic alliance. It would be premature for us
to comment on the IPAP as part of the purpose of our visit it to help
us understand more about the implementation of Azerbaijan's IPAP.
Oct 13 2006
PA NATO to Continue Playing Constructive Role in Assisting Regional
Dialogue - Head of Defense Committee
Source: Trend
Author: A.Mammadova
13.10.2006
Trend's exclusive interview with the head of Committee on Defense and
Security of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, Zachary Selden, which
is member of a delegation to visit Azerbaijan shortly
Question: What are the objectives of your forthcoming visit to
Azerbaijan? Who do you plan to visit during the visit?
Answer: Our objective is to allow our members to educate themselves
about the developments in Azerbaijan. To that end, we plan to meet
with high level officials in the Ministries of Defence, Foreign
Affairs and other relevant government institutions. We also will
meet with Ambassadors from NATO countries and members of civic
organizations. In addition, our visit is an opportunity for the
delegation to meet with members of the Azeri delegation to the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly and their colleagues on the relevant
committees in the parliament.
Question: Will your visit to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan be
followed by new regional report or alterations to your previous
report, introduced during the spring session of PA NATO?
Answer: We will update the spring report with our findings from this
visit and the final version of the report will be made available to
the public in December.
Question: Have any sanctions been applied to official Yerevan to
prevent reiteration of the incidents like that one occurred during
the visit of a NATO Representative Mr. Vahit Erdem to Armenia?
Answer: The President of the Assembly has drawn the attention of the
Speaker of the Armenian Parliament to the issue. No further action
is expected.
Question: What assistance could PA NATO provide in the resolution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
Answer The NATO Parliamentary Assembly will continue to play a
constructive role by fostering discussion among the interested
parties. For example, we organized the Rose-Roth Seminar in Sochi,
Russia this past June to promote regional dialogue. It is vital that
any settlement of the regional conflicts be reached through dialogue
and consensus-building among the states and peoples of the region.
Our role is to help promote that dialogue and allow our members the
opportunity to exchange views with their counterparts in the region.
We plan to hold additional seminars in the region in 2007 to offer
more opportunities for discussion.
Question: During visits to Baku the NATO leadership noted that a path
for Azerbaijan's entrance to the Euro-Atlantic alliance is open. How
do you estimate the implementation of the Individual Partnership
Action Plan between Azerbaijan and NATO? Is it necessary for an
addition to this document?
Answer: We maintain that the path to Euro-Atlantic integration should
remain open to all those who aspire to it and share the values
embodied in the Transatlantic alliance. It would be premature for us
to comment on the IPAP as part of the purpose of our visit it to help
us understand more about the implementation of Azerbaijan's IPAP.