Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.3
By Jamila Jafarova - Trend:
The big difference of opinions between Turkey and its western allies in the issue of responding to the threat policy in Syria and Iraq will create a very delicate situation in the meeting of NATO member states, Director and co-founder of the Stockholm Institute for Security and Development Policy Svante Cornell told Trend.
He said that the issue of responding to the threat policy in Syria and Iraq will be among the priority issues to be discussed during the meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states in May.
Since March 2011, Syria's military conflict claimed the lives of at least 200,000 people. The government of the country's President Bashar al-Assad is fighting against several groups of militants that include foreign contractors. The conflict has affected over 12 million people, almost 4 million Syrians became refugees and more than 7 million people became IDPs as a result of this conflict, according to UN.
The main priority for NATO is the issue of territorial defense and the issue of the Russia's conflict and Ukrainian crisis, according to the expert. Therefore, this issue will also be on the agenda of the meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states in May.
The meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states will be held on May 13-14 in Antalya. The foreign ministers of 28 NATO member states will participate in the consultations on the main issues on the agenda. It is expected that a number of additional sessions will be held with the participation of foreign ministers of the partner countries.
Last time Turkey hosted a meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states in 1994. The summit of presidents and heads of governments of NATO member states was held in Turkey in 2004. Defense ministers of NATO member states gathered in the country in 2010.
