Baku, July 22, AZERTAC

UN peacekeeping operations are considered one of the vital instruments for maintaining international peace and security. Over recent decades, these missions have acquired special significance in terms of conflict management, ensuring post-conflict stability, and supporting humanitarian activities. Azerbaijan’s participation in this process serves as an indicator of the country’s contribution to international security, Gulshan Pashayeva, Member of the Parliament, Board Member of the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center), told AZERTAC.

The MP noted that over recent decades, peacekeeping activities have turned into one of the most important directions of international relations, gaining particular significance in conflict management and ensuring post-conflict stability. The UN's institutional mechanisms play an important role in executing peacekeeping operations. The Security Council adopts decisions on creating missions and defining their mandates, the Secretary-General ensures their overall coordination, while member states contribute to this process by providing personnel, financial, and technical resources.

Pashayeva noted that in the modern era, peacekeeping operations are carried out in various forms. Serious differences exist among observation missions, multidimensional peacekeeping missions, and peace enforcement operations in terms of their goals, mandates, and operational methods.

According to the MP, modern peacekeeping activities also face a number of serious challenges. The increasing complexity of conflicts, the threat of terrorism, the activity of non-state armed groups, geopolitical rivalry, and resource shortages directly affect the performance of international missions.

Gulshan Pashayeva emphasized that all of this demonstrates that peacekeeping operations are not merely a type of military activity. These operations represent a complex mechanism at the intersection of international law, diplomacy, security policy, and humanitarian action. It is precisely this theoretical framework that allows for a more comprehensive assessment of the significance of Azerbaijan’s participation in peacekeeping missions, creating a necessary foundation for analyzing the practical experience of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in peacekeeping operations.

The MP stated that currently, over 65,000 UN peacekeepers from 121 countries are participating in 11 UN peacekeeping operations being carried out in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Among them are two service members of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

Source: azertag.az