NATO Week in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan held NATO Week in September 2018. It consisted of several events aimed at addressing various issues of the Euro-Atlantic security and the cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO, as well as raising public awareness on NATO and Azerbaijan-NATO partnership.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Ms. Rose Gottemoeller and NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Mr. Paolo Alli traveled to Azerbaijan to participate at the NATO Week events and to meet senior government officials.
Azerbaijan hosted the high-level NATO/EAPC Conference on Women, Peace and Security on 20 September 2018, which was the flagship event of the NATO Week. Azerbaijan is the Partnership for Peace (PfP) partner country which introduced voting rights to women back in 1918 and thereby became the first Muslim-majority country ever to enfranchise women. The mentioned conference paved the way for deeper understanding of women, peace and security agenda, as well as consideration of gender perspective in various policy contexts, including defence and security sector reform and cooperative security.
The NATO Week also included a course organized jointly with NATO on 17-21 September 2018 for Afghan representatives on the Civilian Oversight of the Armed Forces (COAF), with the aim of introducing senior and mid-level officials to the community of practice in the field of COAF in the broader context of ongoing defence and security reforms.
During the NATO Week, the successful completion of the Jeyranchel NATO/PfP Trust Fund project was solemnly marked with the participation of high level officials from Azerbaijan and NATO. With the support by NATO member and partner states, this project enabled clearance of 6400 hectares of arable land contaminated with unexploded ordonnances and paved the way for the agricultural use of the mentioned area.
In addition, a 10-day training course on cyber defence for Azerbaijani public servants took place in the framework of the NATO Week. The course, which was supported by NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme, helped raise awareness on operational cyber security and served the security needs of Azerbaijan.
Furthermore, Azerbaijan hosted the visit by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Sub-Committee on Transition and Development on 12-14 September 2018. The participants exchanged views on the topics of mutual interest such as security and stability in the region, as well as energy security.