Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan demonstrate commitment to regional cooperation

Historical, cultural, economic and political relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have developed at a high level as ever. In modern era, these relations are advancing to a high level in both traditional and strategic ways.

Besides, Azerbaijanis and Kazakhs are both Turkic-speaking people and share close historical, religious and cultural ties. Both are littoral states of the Caspian Sea and possess a common maritime border. During the great purge in the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has been a home for over 150K Azerbaijanis who immigrated or were deported.

Moreover, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan see each other as main allies and partners in Central Asia and Transcaucasia. Both countries are members of Turkic Council and Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture.

Development of political ties

The development of political relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan existed even during the Soviet era. The founder of independent Azerbaijan, the national leader Heydar Aliyev was a close friend of the former head of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and did not spare his support for Kazakhstan even for a moment.

Even Nursultan Nazarbayev noted in his memoirs:

We knew each other for decades. When Heydar Aliyev was working in Kremlin, I was visiting him regularly for to get support. I was one of the first persons who visited him when he was in hospital in Moscow. When he had a great loss - in the funeral of his wife, I was there too. I think Azerbaijani people did the right choice with choosing him for a president. He was my friend and a politician that I was respecting a lot. He had carried out number of works aimed to the strengthening of the many-centurial friendship between Kazakh and Azerbaijani nations, development of the Republic of Azerbaijan, CIS.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan both reached an agreement on the legal status of Caspian Sea in a short time. The heads of both states used to visit each other regularly.

During the Heydar Aliyev’s presidency, Azerbaijani-Kazakh relations mostly covered the legal status of the Caspian Sea and the fields of agriculture and energy.

These relations still continue, and President Ilham Aliyev, the successor of the National Leader, continues this path effectively. In 2004, when President Ilham Aliyev started his new presidency, he laid the foundation of the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan with his first visit.

A number of bilateral instruments, including the "Strategic Partnership and Allies' Relations Treaty", were signed. Both countries closely participated in a number of large-scale projects, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project.

Of course, strategic relations are continued, and the visit of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Azerbaijan can be considered exceptionally important in this regard.

“Today we have had extensive discussions on what has already been done to strengthen our cooperation, and also discussed in detail our future plans. We attach great importance to the state visit of the President of Kazakhstan, our brotherly country, our strategic partner and ally,” President Ilham Aliyev said during his meeting with the Kazakh President.

The Republic of Kazakhstan, in addition to being an important country in the economic life of Azerbaijan, can also be considered a country that supports it in its political and social life. So Kazajhstan is the founder of the first children's creative center to be opened in liberated Fuzuli, Garabagh, after the Patriotic War.

“First of all, I would like to once again express my gratitude to Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich for his initiative to build the Kurmangazy Children's Creativity Center in Fuzuli, which has been liberated from occupation. This is the decision of the President personally, and although very little time has passed since this decision was made, we will open this center together tomorrow. Along with the fact that children of former IDPs will study there, it will also be the center of our friendship and brotherhood. This is Kazakhstan’s brotherly help to Azerbaijan, it is a gift of Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan and its support for the restoration of liberated territories,” President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said this as he expressed his deep gratitude to brotherly Kazakhstan for such a generosity of Kazakh people.

The head of state also expressed his gratitude to the leadership of Kazakhstan for their support in restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. As a member of the Union of Multilingual States, Kazakhstan is one of the countries interested in the signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the full restoration of security in the region very soon.

Further to the discussions between President Ilham Aliyev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the sides also mulled other issues of interaction, including joint activities in international bodies, first of all, the UN and the Organization of Turkic States. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are aligned in the view that it is necessary to further strengthen interaction within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States, as it is an organization that unites close, friendly and brotherly countries and has a very great potential – most importantly, the potential for growth.

Trans-Caspian transport corridor largely determines level of regional cooperation

President Ilham Aliyev during his meeting also touched on the aspects of interactions within the framework of the first meeting of the High-Level Intergovernmental Council. Having mentioned the sphere of trade and economic interactions, President Ilham Aliyev underlined the importance of the Trans-Caspian transit corridor.

“Matters related to the transit and transport sector were discussed in detail, and we took part in the symbolic welcoming of the container train, which made its way from the People's Republic of China through Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan. This is a symbol of the fact that the Trans-Caspian transport corridor is already a reality, which itself will largely determine the level of regional cooperation, because it is impossible to become a transit country without good relations with your neighbors. In this case, both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have demonstrated their commitment to regional cooperation and strengthening of relations with neighbors,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan has great expectations from cooperation in the field of COP29 in its relations with Kazakhstan.

“The situation related to cooperation in the oil and gas sector was also analyzed in detail and new specific projects were outlined. We discussed preparations for the COP29 climate conference, and we offered our Kazakh brothers cooperation in preparing and holding of this most important international conference,” the head of state added.

As mentioned, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are taking parallel steps in the field of energy, especially green energy. The Trans-Caspian transport line is in the foreground for both countries in terms of transportation and logistics. Both countries are extremely satisfied with the rapidly and continuously developing cooperation. This is, of course, a bright result of a visionary policy and an unshakable unity based on deep historical roots.