On 16 June, the Latvian Embassy to Azerbaijan with the aid of the ADA University organised an international conference entitled “Azerbaijan's contribution to the Euro-Atlantic Peace and Security” with the participation of high-ranking officials from Azerbaijan and NATO. 

Speaking at the conference, the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev emphasised that there was a need to further deepen Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation in the fields of energy, security, information exchange, and cybersecurity. 

Hajiyev said that defence and terrorism should not be the only security issues discussed between Azerbaijan and NATO. "Cooperation with NATO in the field of public diplomacy, the fight against fake news is interesting for Azerbaijan. Although NATO does not intervene directly, it closely monitors regional stability, security, and Azerbaijan highly evaluates this. Azerbaijan is interested in regional stability and cooperation after the conflict, and in terms of this, a sample in the Balkans may be interesting for us. Azerbaijan has paid special attention not to shell civilian objects during the war and is ready to share its experience in this field. Activities of the Azerbaijani military forces are based on the provisions of the international humanitarian law in this conflict. Azerbaijan has used precise weapons to select targets and hit them in the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict.”

The US ambassador to Azerbaijan Lee Litzenberger stated that NATO appreciates Azerbaijan’s assistance to the Alliance mission in Afghanistan. "Our cooperation with Azerbaijan is not in the framework of NATO's peace operation. There is a cooperation between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan in the bilateral format in different fields.” “Cooperation is essential for Afghanistan, we express gratitude for the support, the contribution of NATO, and the international community to Afghanistan. Afghans think that they fight against terrorism shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO,” he said. “I am impressed by the role played by Azerbaijan as a valuable and reliable partner of NATO. We have already withdrawn forces from Afghanistan. Azerbaijani and Turkish military forces jointly ensured the security of Hamid Karzai International Airport,” he added. The NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai added that the cooperation between the Alliance and Azerbaijan  is sustainable and reliable.

The research director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of Johns Hopkins University Svante Cornell called for a revival of relations between NATO and Azerbaijan. “Azerbaijan is the strongest country in the region in terms of military and economic potential. Azerbaijan has good relations with its neighbours and can play a mediator role between Russia and NATO. Azerbaijan has good relations with Turkey and Israel and Azerbaijan can also play a role in the rapprochement of relations between Turkey and Israel. Azerbaijan has also good relations with Turkey and Greece and these relations can be used to bring relations between the two countries closer. Azerbaijan’s relations with Turkmenistan are developing, Azerbaijan can be the West's way to Central Asia. Azerbaijan is an excellent partner for NATO, and there is potential for further expansion and deepening of relations. The reason for this good relationship is a balanced policy pursued by Azerbaijan,” Cornell explained.

Relations between NATO and Azerbaijan started in 1992, when Azerbaijan joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. Azerbaijan's cooperation with NATO includes building capabilities and interoperability through the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP) which assists Azerbaijan in developing selected units to improve interoperability with those of the Alliance and through the Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) which integrates NATO standards into the teaching methodologies and curricula of the country’s Professional Military Education (PME) institutions. 

The wider cooperation between NATO and Azerbaijan includes: 1) Azerbaijan’s development of the national civil emergency and disaster management capabilities with the aid of NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC); 2) Azerbaijan’s engagement in the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme in the areas of cyber defence and counter-terrorism; 3) and the partnership between Azerbaijan’s  National Agency for Mine Action and the NATO Trust Fund projects to assist with the demilitarisation of unexploded ordnance. In addition, Azerbaijan’s troops participated in NATO missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. The Azerbaijani Ministry of National Security has worked with elements of NATO to establish an International Anti-Terrorism Training Centre to protect its energy infrastructure from terrorist attacks.