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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the Turkic world was developing into one of the influential geopolitical power centers of the 21st century, pledging that Azerbaijan would continue working to strengthen cooperation among Turkic states.
Aliyev made the remarks in messages delivered on the fifth anniversary of the Shusha Declaration between Azerbaijan and Türkiye and during an informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Turkistan, Kazakhstan.
“Our family, the Turkic world, is becoming one of the influential geopolitical power centers of the 21st century,” Aliyev said.
He stressed that stronger solidarity and cooperation across the Turkic world carried particular importance for international cooperation and regional security.
Aliyev said the international influence of the Organization of Turkic States was increasing and that its role in global affairs was becoming stronger.
“Azerbaijan will continue to spare no effort to strengthen the Organization of Turkic States,” he said.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan was working to deepen cooperation among Turkic states in political, economic, transportation and digital fields.
He said the world was entering a new stage of development through the opportunities created by digital transformation and artificial intelligence.
“Turkic states must be at the forefront of this process,” Aliyev said.
He pointed to continuing cooperation on the Digital Silk Road project connecting Europe and Asia.
Aliyev said the Trans-Caspian Fiber Optic Cable Line between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which forms part of the project, was expected to enter service in the coming months.
He also noted the historical and cultural ties between Shusha and Turkistan, saying Turkistan was the first city to establish a sister-city relationship with Shusha after its liberation.
“Ancient cities, like peoples, are brothers,” Aliyev said.
Aliyev said cooperation among Turkic states in transportation was expanding as global geopolitical conditions increased the strategic importance of the Middle Corridor.
He said the Zangezur Corridor, which is being developed to connect mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, would become one of the main components of the Middle Corridor.
“This corridor will connect Azerbaijan’s mainland with Nakhchivan and become one of the fundamental elements of the Middle Corridor,” Aliyev said.
He presented the transportation projects as part of a wider vision based on regional connectivity, trade and shared prosperity.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan was working to transform not only the South Caucasus but also the wider Eurasian region into a reliable space for cooperation.
In his message to an international conference in Shusha marking the fifth anniversary of the Shusha Declaration, Aliyev recalled that Azerbaijan had faced occupation, international threats and injustice after restoring its independence.
He said Azerbaijan had consistently worked to restore its territorial integrity and ensure that its citizens could live in security.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan regained its territories following the Second Karabakh War in 2020 and an operation conducted in 2023.
He said the developments fully restored Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Aliyev added that Azerbaijan had implemented U.N. Security Council resolutions that had remained unenforced for nearly 30 years.
At the same time, he said Azerbaijan had sought to support cooperation and friendly relations among countries.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan was pursuing a determined policy to establish lasting peace and stability in the region.
He said a joint declaration signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington last year in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, along with the initialing of a peace agreement, had fundamentally changed the situation in the South Caucasus.
Aliyev said the peace process and the development of regional transportation routes could create a new environment for cooperation.
He linked the Zangezur Corridor to those efforts, saying it would support both regional connectivity and the wider Middle Corridor between Asia and Europe.
The New Azerbaijan Party organized the conference, titled “Regional Contribution to Global Security: Peacebuilding in the South Caucasus.”
Officials and experts from Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Laos, Moldova, Cambodia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Belarus, China, North Macedonia, Georgia and Serbia attended the event.
Türkiye was represented by Samil Ayrim, head of the Turkish Parliament’s Türkiye-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary Friendship Group and a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lawmaker from Istanbul; Türkiye’s ambassador to Baku, Birol Akgun; and AK Party deputy foreign relations chair Ibrahim Halil Korkmaz.
The conference was held as Azerbaijan and Türkiye marked five years since the signing of the Shusha Declaration, which elevated bilateral relations to the level of an alliance.
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