BAKU, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan has no intention of sending a contingent of its troops to take part in peacekeeping operations outside its borders, including in Gaza, President Ilham Aliyev said late on Monday.
Aliyev, interviewed by Azeri television channels, said Azerbaijan had been in contact with Donald Trump’s U.S. administration with a list of questions about the operation of a peacekeeping force in Gaza.
“We prepared a questionnaire of more than 20 questions and provided it to the American side. No participation in peacekeeping forces is envisaged,” Aliyev said.
“I am not considering participation in hostilities outside Azerbaijan at all.”
An Azeri government source had said last November that Azerbaijan would provide no troops for such an operation unless there was a complete halt to fighting between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Editing by Ron Popeski and Lisa Shumaker)
