Robert Simmons holds a press conference

Informing about his meetings during his visit, Mr.Simmons said he had talks with President Ilham Aliyev, conducted meetings in Defense, National Security, Emergencies Ministries as well as State Frontier Service and Interior Troops. The NATO special representative also said the discussions focused on implementation of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) signed between Azerbaijan and NATO in the first stage.

"Azerbaijan has achieved implementing most of its commitments under the plan for the first stage. Azerbaijan is one of the countries which are actively cooperating with NATO," Mr.Simmons said.

Simmons considers it inevitable to make some changes to IPAP in the process of its implementation. He said future plan will be prepared on the basis of proposals made by Azerbaijan and NATO and will be included into the IPAP.

"IPAP changes and is improved every year. New items will be included into it. This is an advanced step and we highly appreciate this cooperation," he added.

According to APA, NATO special representative also said some reforms are carried out in Azerbaijan's Armed Forces in the framework of IPAP. He thinks these reforms may be in larger scale.

Azerbaijani government and NATO signed IPAP last year. The plan consists of four parts. It envisages general political issues, defense and security, science and people's diplomacy as well as administrative spheres.

Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister Araz Azimov addressing the news conference said that Azerbaijan's cooperation with NATO was not just for the sake of something.

"Strengthening of NATO's role in the South Caucasus depends on several geopolitical factors. Azerbaijan's integration into NATO will take some time," Azimov said.