NATO should protect GUAM members

Sulkhadin Akper, head of the Azeri Association of Atlantic Cooperation, has stated in Baku that it is necessary for NATO to protect GUAM countries from Russian aggression. He suggested that Azerbaijan's leadership is not intending to deepen partnership with NATO, does not want to conduct intensive dialogue with it and prefers to continue with its IPAP programme. Akper says that this is the result of pressure from Russia and Iran.

Akper thinks that the prospect of making democratic changes in order to move closer to NATO creates a syndrome of fear in the Azerbaijani leadership. He also reckons that Azerbaijan is the most important strategic country for Washington, but the USA wants to incorporate all three South Caucasus countries into NATO simultaneously.