The history of Azerbaijan-NATO relationship dates back to March 1992 when Azerbaijan together with some Central and Eastern European countries, joined a newly established consultative forum – the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC), which was transformed into the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council later in 1997.

The cornerstone of the substantive partnership between Azerbaijan and NATO was laid down on 4 May 1994 when the late President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev signed the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Framework Document.

Throughout the 30 years, Azerbaijan and NATO have built a mutually-beneficial cooperation through a substantive political dialogue and robust practical cooperation across a diverse array of domains. Azerbaijan has been recognized as a reliable partner of the Alliance due to its contributions to international peace and security, including NATO-led peace support operations and missions based on UN Security Council resolutions, as well as its essential role in ensuring the energy security of NATO Allies and partners.

Within the political dialogue with NATO on a broad range of issues of common concern based on the PfP principles, which is conducted in different formats and levels, issues related to partnerships, as well as global and regional security are the matters of bilateral discussions and consultations. The high-level political dialogue based on mutual understanding promotes progress in the practical cooperation.

Sustained high-level visits between Azerbaijan and NATO plays a pivotal role in enhancing our partnership. In total, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan has visited NATO headquarters 9 times (in 1994, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2017 və 2021) and participated in the meetings of North Atlantic Council. Additionally, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan has participated in 10 NATO summits of heads of state and government (in 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 və 2018). On the other hand, NATO Secretary General has made 7 visits (1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2012 və 2024) to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The latest visit by His Excellency Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to the NATO Headquarters in 14 December 2021 gave a new impetus to the NATO-Azerbaijan partnership and paved the way for further high-level engagements.

Azerbaijan actively uses relevant partnership tools to achieve goals reflected in the PfP Framework Document as well as bilateral cooperation documents. The PfP Presentation Document (1996), Planning and Review Process (1997) and Individual Partnership Action Plan (2004) Documents are the main national papers that define key principles and goals of Azerbaijan’s individual partnership with NATO.

The Individual Partnership Action Plan, which Azerbaijan joined in 2004, enabled to hold regular political dialogue, systematize bilateral cooperation as overarching tool and agree on new cooperation activities of mutual interest in a more flexible manner. Azerbaijan successfully completed the first (2005-2007), second (2008-2010), third (2012-2013), fourth (2014-2016) and fifth cycles (2017-2019) of the IPAP document. In the framework of its Individual Partnership and Action Plan based upon the PfP Framework Document, Azerbaijan has been participating annually at more than 200 events.

Another important mechanism is the Planning and Review Process, which is designed to help Partners identify and evaluate forces and capabilities which might be made available for multinational operations and exercises in conjunction with NATO forces.  It also helps Partners to develop defence planning practices using NATO experience.

Since 2022, the transition to a mechanism called the Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP) has begun, aimed at consolidating existing partnership documents of partners, including Azerbaijan, into a single document by NATO. The ITPP document will fully replace Azerbaijan’s IPAP and PARP partnership documents.

Alongside defense and security sector reforms, development of military forces according to NATO standards and military interoperability, participation in NATO-led peace support operations and missions, the Azerbaijan-NATO practical cooperation encompasses a broad range of non-military areas, such as civil emergency planning, energy security, addressing emerging security challenges, public diplomacy, humanitarian demining, and other areas of mutual interest.