Meeting in Istanbul on 28 and 29 June, NATO Heads of State and Government expanded the Alliance’s presence in Afghanistan, agreed to assist Iraq with training, launched a new partnership initiative and adopted measures to improve NATO’s operational capabilities.

The Summit adopted final documents. The Statement on Iraq issued by the Heads of State and Government, runs:

“We, the 26 Heads of State and Government of the nations of the Atlantic Alliance, meeting in Istanbul, declare our full support for the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Iraq and for strengthening of freedom, democracy, human rights, rule of law and security for all the Iraqi people.

We welcome the unanimous adoption of Security Council Resolution 1546 under Chapter 7 of the Charter of the United Nations as an important step towards Iraq’s political transition to democratic government. We pledge our full support for the effective implementation of UNSCR 1546.

We are united in our support for the Iraqi people and offer full cooperation to the new sovereign Interim Government as it seeks to strengthen internal security and prepare the way to national elections in 2005.

We deplore and call for an immediate end to all terrorist attacks in Iraq. Terrorist activities in and from Iraq also threaten the security of its neighbors and the region as a whole”.

In response to the request of the Iraqi Interim Government, and in accordance with Resolution 1546 which requests international and regional organizations to contribute assistance to the Multinational Force, we have decided today to offer NATO’s assistance to the government of Iraq with the training of its security forces. We therefore also encourage nations to contribute to the training of the Iraqi armed forces.

We have asked the North Atlantic Council to develop on an urgent basis the modalities to implement this decision with the Iraqi Interim Government”.

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On 29 June, the NATO Istanbul Summit continued its work. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended then meeting. In his introductory remarks, the NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer made at the meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) at the level of Heads of State and Government, he said:

“Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.

I would like to express, also on behalf of the EAPC, our profound gratitude for the warm welcome offered to us in Istanbul by Prime Minister Erdoрan and his country.

I would like to extend a particular welcome today to President Karzai of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan, who joins us for our first agenda item. I would also like to welcome President Tihic, Chairman of the Tri-Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and President Marovic of Serbia and Montenegro who join us as observers today.

Today we celebrate ten years of achievement through the Partnership for Peace.

To mark this event, I invite you to watch for a few minutes a short video presentation before we begin our discussions.

This is what we have achieved together. It is a record of which we can be very proud.

NATO's success has always been based on solidarity - the willingness to accept risks and tackle challenges together. But NATO does not face these challenges alone.

We must always look to the future, and consider how best our Partnership can adapt to meet the new challenges that we face together. This should be our objective today.”

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made remarks in the meeting.