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AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Nov 8 2013
British MP calls for reconsidering restrictions on arms sale to Azerbaijan
8 November 2013, 18:30 (GMT+04:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan is an active participant in international peacekeeping
processes, a British MP said.
Responding to the questions of the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS),
Penny Mordaunt said, "We should build bridges with countries that are
West-oriented."
"We should support their orientation towards the West, their
democracy, human rights, and freedom of society, as well as their
attempts to organize a joint security. Azerbaijan is one of those
states," Mordaunt, member of the Committee on Arms Export Controls,
added.
According to Mordaunt, Azerbaijan is an active participant in global
peace processes, and, to this end, has sent troops to Iraq, Kosovo,
and Afghanistan.
She said that Azerbaijan has also been an important transit country
for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and will be a
major transit country during the withdrawal of British troops and
equipment from Afghanistan in 2014.
Mordaunt said the heavy military vehicles will pass through Kazakhstan
and cross over to Baku by ferry via the Caspian Sea, and then will be
transported to Turkey through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
She called it a testament to the fact that Azerbaijan plays the role
of a bridge between Central Asia and Europe.
The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani armed forces has been
serving under the NATO-led ISAF in Afghanistan since 2002. The
Azerbaijani peacekeeping contingent started with 22-people-strong
staff and the number of the contingent increased in 2008, reaching the
level of a detachment. Azerbaijani peacekeepers will stay in
Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from the country
by the end of 2014.
In the past, the country also actively supported the operations of the
Alliance in Kosovo.
Mordaunt also said that the United Kingdom, like Azerbaijan, has a
valuable property in the Caspian Sea which is in need of reliable
protection.
"If Azerbaijan intends to strengthen its own navy to ensure the safety
of platforms, then, in my opinion, the UK must create a condition for
the sale of British ships," Mordaunt said.
She went on to say that restrictions on the sale of flotilla ships,
namely patrol ships, to Azerbaijan must be lifted.
"Sale of patrol ships is in our interests. It benefits us, not only in
ensuring the security of oil installations, pipelines, and ships in
the Caspian Sea, but also in increasing the export of our ships. Such
transactions will not affect Armenia, which is in conflict with
Azerbaijan," Mordaunt said.
She also said that the UK should reconsider the list of restrictions
on the sale of military equipment to Azerbaijan.
"We should exclude those weapons that serve the national security of
Azerbaijan and the UK and will not be used in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict," Mordaunt said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the
early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian
armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's
internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven adjacent regions.
She said that the same arguments apply to the question of training
Azerbaijani naval officers.
Mordaunt added that this kind of trainings only strengthen cooperation
between the two countries' armed forces.
The UK recognized Azerbaijan's independence in December, 1991.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in
March, 1992.
Azerbaijan and the UK have benefitted from close bilateral partnership
and cooperation since 1992, in the framework of international
organizations such as the United Nations, OSCE, Council of Europe, and
NATO. The relations have covered a wide range of issues, from
high-level political dialogue to growing trade and investment, as well
as strengthening cultural and humanitarian ties.
Economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the
energy sector, is at the core of the relations between Azerbaijan and
the UK. The UK is the largest foreign direct investor in Azerbaijan,
followed by the U.S. and Japan.
Azerbaijan cooperates with the UK in the exploration and
transportation of oil and natural gas from the Azerbaijani part of the
Caspian Sea.
http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/61445.html
Nov 8 2013
British MP calls for reconsidering restrictions on arms sale to Azerbaijan
8 November 2013, 18:30 (GMT+04:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan is an active participant in international peacekeeping
processes, a British MP said.
Responding to the questions of the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS),
Penny Mordaunt said, "We should build bridges with countries that are
West-oriented."
"We should support their orientation towards the West, their
democracy, human rights, and freedom of society, as well as their
attempts to organize a joint security. Azerbaijan is one of those
states," Mordaunt, member of the Committee on Arms Export Controls,
added.
According to Mordaunt, Azerbaijan is an active participant in global
peace processes, and, to this end, has sent troops to Iraq, Kosovo,
and Afghanistan.
She said that Azerbaijan has also been an important transit country
for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and will be a
major transit country during the withdrawal of British troops and
equipment from Afghanistan in 2014.
Mordaunt said the heavy military vehicles will pass through Kazakhstan
and cross over to Baku by ferry via the Caspian Sea, and then will be
transported to Turkey through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
She called it a testament to the fact that Azerbaijan plays the role
of a bridge between Central Asia and Europe.
The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani armed forces has been
serving under the NATO-led ISAF in Afghanistan since 2002. The
Azerbaijani peacekeeping contingent started with 22-people-strong
staff and the number of the contingent increased in 2008, reaching the
level of a detachment. Azerbaijani peacekeepers will stay in
Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from the country
by the end of 2014.
In the past, the country also actively supported the operations of the
Alliance in Kosovo.
Mordaunt also said that the United Kingdom, like Azerbaijan, has a
valuable property in the Caspian Sea which is in need of reliable
protection.
"If Azerbaijan intends to strengthen its own navy to ensure the safety
of platforms, then, in my opinion, the UK must create a condition for
the sale of British ships," Mordaunt said.
She went on to say that restrictions on the sale of flotilla ships,
namely patrol ships, to Azerbaijan must be lifted.
"Sale of patrol ships is in our interests. It benefits us, not only in
ensuring the security of oil installations, pipelines, and ships in
the Caspian Sea, but also in increasing the export of our ships. Such
transactions will not affect Armenia, which is in conflict with
Azerbaijan," Mordaunt said.
She also said that the UK should reconsider the list of restrictions
on the sale of military equipment to Azerbaijan.
"We should exclude those weapons that serve the national security of
Azerbaijan and the UK and will not be used in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict," Mordaunt said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the
early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian
armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's
internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and
seven adjacent regions.
She said that the same arguments apply to the question of training
Azerbaijani naval officers.
Mordaunt added that this kind of trainings only strengthen cooperation
between the two countries' armed forces.
The UK recognized Azerbaijan's independence in December, 1991.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in
March, 1992.
Azerbaijan and the UK have benefitted from close bilateral partnership
and cooperation since 1992, in the framework of international
organizations such as the United Nations, OSCE, Council of Europe, and
NATO. The relations have covered a wide range of issues, from
high-level political dialogue to growing trade and investment, as well
as strengthening cultural and humanitarian ties.
Economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the
energy sector, is at the core of the relations between Azerbaijan and
the UK. The UK is the largest foreign direct investor in Azerbaijan,
followed by the U.S. and Japan.
Azerbaijan cooperates with the UK in the exploration and
transportation of oil and natural gas from the Azerbaijani part of the
Caspian Sea.
http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/61445.html