Azernews.Az

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry and NATO are conducting joint training courses under the 2021 Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), the ministry reported on December 7.

The training courses on aviation operations kicked off on December 6 with the participation of Azerbaijan’s Air Force servicemen along with the Mobile Training Team of Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) at Ramstein, the report added.

As a part of the courses, the participants were informed about the activities of the relevant air force units in line with the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) standards, as well as other topics such as ensuring safety and security measures were explained to them.

The courses will last until December 9.

Relations with NATO were established in 1992 when Azerbaijan joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. This forum for dialogue was succeeded in 1997 by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together all Allies and partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Bilateral cooperation began when Azerbaijan joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 1994. Thanks to regular participation in PfP activities, Azerbaijan has been able to contribute actively to Euro-Atlantic security by supporting NATO-led peace-support operations.

Azerbaijan’s participation in the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP) since 1997 has allowed NATO and individual Allies to assist Azerbaijan in developing selected units to improve interoperability with those of the Allies.

NATO and Azerbaijan started work on a jointly agreed Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) in 2008 to integrate NATO standards into the teaching methodologies and curricula of the country’s Professional Military Education (PME) institutions.

In 2018, Azerbaijan asked NATO to also involve the Military High School, a pre-commissioning school, in DEEP.

Cooperative activities, reform plans and political dialogue processes are detailed in Azerbaijan’s Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), which is jointly agreed upon.

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