Baku hosts conference on security in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet countries

By  Trend

The conference entitled ‘Topchubashov. Security Conference: Security Issues in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union’ was held in Baku on Jan. 15, Trend reports.

The conference has been organized by the M.A. Topchubashov Scientific and Surgical Center.

The foreign and local political experts and other guests attended the conference. During the conference, panels entitled “Assessment of Security Strategies of the Eastern European Countries” and “Balancing Security at Borders: Post-Soviet Countries” were held.

While delivering speech, political analyst Andreas Umland stressed that after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), there were conditions for the creation of a new coalition in Eastern Europe, as well as for the post-Soviet countries to join international organizations such as NATO and the Council of Europe.

Umland stressed that after the collapse of the USSR, relations were established between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

He said that being a NATO member, Turkey has had an impact on ensuring the security of this cooperation.

In turn, political expert from Poland Adam Richard stressed that after the collapse of the Soviet regime, Soviet troops were withdrawn from Poland and the country joined NATO.

“Poland has formed its own security structure,” he added. “The security of Eastern European countries is important for Poland. Poland attaches great importance to the cooperation with neighboring countries and partners in the field of security.”

“The conflicts existing in the post-Soviet countries, including the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, pose a threat to security,” Richard said. “These problems should be solved to ensure safety.”

Estonian expert Merle Maigre spoke about cyber security and said that cyber security is one of the main challenges of the modern period.

"We must pay special attention to this issue,” she said. “Information technologies affect all spheres of our life. We talk on the phone every day, use the internet. Anyone can be subject to a cyber attack."

“A cyber attack poses the same threat as a physical attack,” Maigre said. “From this point of view, a cyber security strategy must be an integral part of each country's national security.”

While delivering speech, head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Tural Ganjaliyev spoke about the activity of the community and stressed that as a result of the Armenian occupation, more than one million Azerbaijanis were expelled from their native lands.

"Despite we have undergone ethnic cleansing by the Armenians and they destroyed the burial of our ancestors, our monuments, we are ready to live together with the Armenians if the conflict is resolved within the international law and Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity," Ganjaliyev said.

“The Armenian community must understand that its happy life can be ensured within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,” he said.

“We are also ready for constructive negotiations with the Armenian community,” Ganjaliyev added. “The sooner the Armenian community understands this, the better it will be.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.