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Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan alliance strengthens South Caucasus-Central Asia axis

23 August 2026 14:24 (UTC +04:00)

The deepening alliance between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan is becoming an important element of the emerging political configuration between the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The key political outcome of the growing rapprochement between Baku and Tashkent is that bilateral ties are expanding into broader areas of multilateral diplomacy, regional integration and institutional cooperation across the Turkic world. This not only brings together the political capabilities of the two countries but also lays the groundwork for a more coordinated regional space on both sides of the Caspian Sea.

This process is particularly evident on international platforms. Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are expanding cooperation within the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the Non-Aligned Movement and other multilateral frameworks. Mutual support between Baku and Tashkent across various political platforms enhances the diplomatic potential of their alliance and provides additional political leverage for advancing national interests internationally.

One of the key developments reshaping the regional significance of bilateral relations has been Azerbaijan’s integration into the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia. President Ilham Aliyev’s participation as an honorary guest in the fifth meeting in 2023 and the sixth meeting in 2024 demonstrated the consistent nature of Azerbaijan’s political rapprochement with Central Asia. The process entered a new phase on November 16, 2025, when a decision on Azerbaijan’s full participation was adopted at the seventh Consultative Meeting in Tashkent.

As a result, the regional dialogue previously built around the C5 format effectively evolved into a C6 political configuration. This transformation goes far beyond simply increasing the number of participating states. Azerbaijan’s inclusion extends the geography of Central Asian political cooperation towards the western shore of the Caspian Sea and creates a new strategic link between Central Asia and the South Caucasus. President Ilham Aliyev’s participation in the informal Consultative Meeting held in Kyrgyzstan on July 31, 2026, further demonstrated that Baku is no longer an external partner of this mechanism but a direct participant in regional political dialogue. The eighth Consultative Meeting is scheduled to take place in Turkmenistan on October 8, 2026.

This transformation along the Central Asian track is developing in parallel with the broader integration process across the Turkic world. In this context, another strategic platform for the Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan alliance is the OTS. Founded in Nakhchivan in 2009, the organization has gradually evolved from a framework based primarily on historical and cultural solidarity into a multilateral institution where political, economic and security interests are increasingly coordinated.

Documents adopted at the 12th Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the OTS, held in Gabala last year, highlighted objectives such as strengthening the organization’s political, economic and military potential, deepening unity among Turkic states and enhancing the OTS’s international standing. These priorities demonstrate the direction and growing scope of the organization’s transformation.

Another factor contributing to the resilience of the alliance is that political dialogue is not confined to the presidential level. Parliamentary diplomacy has developed into a separate institutional pillar of bilateral relations. Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has visited Uzbekistan six times, including her participation in the Second Asian Women’s Forum in Bukhara on May 14–15, 2026. The First Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Interparliamentary Forum was held in Khiva in 2025, while the second forum is planned to take place in Azerbaijan this year, confirming that interparliamentary dialogue is becoming a sustainable mechanism of cooperation.

Ultimately, the Baku-Tashkent axis now represents considerably more than close relations between two allied states. Azerbaijan’s integration into Central Asia’s political mechanisms, Baku-Tashkent coordination on multilateral platforms, the strengthening of integration within the OTS and the institutionalization of parliamentary diplomacy are creating a new political linkage across the South Caucasus-Central Asia-Turkic world space. In this sense, the Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan alliance is emerging as a strategic factor that brings the two shores of the Caspian closer together and influences the evolving political architecture of the wider region.