Azerbaijan not to join NATO

Azerbaijan will join neither NATO nor the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but is prepared to cooperate with both, a presidential aide said. "As Azerbaijan has been participating in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme since 1995, we envision our future security model within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement," said Ali Gasanov, head of the presidential ...

Ansari visits Samarkand Bukhara next stop before wrapping up Uzbekistan visit

Vice President Hamid Ansari visited the ancient city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Thursday. He was received by Samarkand Governor Mirzaev Zoyir Toirovich. Both held discussions on issues of mutual interest. Ansari also paid a visit to Shah-e-Zinda, where Prophet Mohammad's cousin, Kusam ibn Abbas, was beheaded for refusing to abandon his faith. The Vice President later visited the mausoleum ...

Kyrgyzstan still coping with ethnic crises

There's a space for democracy and freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan but there are underlying concerns about discrimination, a U.N. envoy said. Kyrgyzstan is struggling politically to evolve after ethnic violence followed a coup in 2010. The cities of Osh and Jalal Abab were the sites of violence between ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities after the coup. At least 400 people were killed ...

Azerbaijan can at any time revise its priorities – official

Azerbaijan, in accordance with the national interest, can at any time revise its priorities, and the crucial element here will be the issues of security. This was stated by head of the department of social and political issues of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov. "Everything is based on national, energy, political and social interests of Azerbaijan," he ...

All school leavers to be issued certificates in Azerbaijan

"Supporting the initiative of the Education Ministry, President Ilham Aliyev once again showed that he is the president of each Azerbaijani citizen and supporter of equal opportunities for every school leaver," Education Minister of Azerbaijan Mikayil Jabbarov said. In response to education minister’s appeal to the president, the latter ordered to issue certificates to all ...