President Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan to increase number of peacekeepers in Afghanistan

Baku. 23 November. REPORT.AZ/ Azerbaijani servicemen together with the NATO contingent serve in Afghanistan with the aim of ensuring peace and security in this country.

Report informs, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.

"94 Azerbaijani servicemen serve shoulder to shoulder with NATO servicemen in order to ensure peace and security in Afghanistan", the head of state said.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that the cooperation of Azerbaijan and NATO has been going on for several years, the country has participated in many NATO peacekeeping operations, and now Azerbaijan is contributing to the mission of "Resolute Support".

Azerbaijan also provides multimodal transit and gives the go-ahead for flying through its airspace for the coalition forces, the head of state stressed.

"Azerbaijan also contributes to the trust fund for the Afghan armed forces, and as the Secretary General has already said, we will increase the number of our contingent in Afghanistan in order to make even greater contributions to ensuring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan", said Ilham Aliyev.

In turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked the President for decision to increase the number of peacekeepers in the framework of the mission "Resolute Support" in Afghanistan.

President Ilham Aliyev also mentioned that Azerbaijan has joined the Individual Partnership Action Plan since 2004 and completed 4 cycles, the 5th cycle is currently being implemented.