Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit to Uzbekistan on August 23, 2026, demonstrated the level reached by political, economic and strategic cooperation between Baku and Tashkent. The visit also carried significance for the Turkic world, Central Asia’s geopolitics and Türkiye’s regional influence.
Political trust is expanding into economic partnership
The visit, held within the framework of the third meeting of the Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Supreme Interstate Council, launched new projects, produced political statements and resulted in the signing of several agreements. The Eternal Friendship Treaty signed by the two countries stipulates that the parties will not allow actions that could harm each other’s sovereignty, security or territorial integrity.
The treaty also covers the development of cooperation in areas including education, trade, investment, energy, transport, logistics, information and communication technologies, and space technologies. It also establishes a common position against the use of third countries’ territories in a manner that would threaten the security of either party.
Azerbaijan’s relations with the Turkic republics of Central Asia have strengthened politically and strategically in recent years. The signing of an alliance agreement with Kyrgyzstan, the elevation of relations with Kazakhstan to the level of an alliance, and the conclusion of a defense agreement with Turkmenistan indicate that Baku’s regional policy is moving toward a more institutionalized and long-term framework.
The current momentum in Baku-Tashkent relations began with a 2022 agreement to deepen the strategic partnership. The establishment of the Supreme Interstate Council in 2023 institutionalized political relations, while the indefinite alliance agreement signed in 2024 provided for foreign policy coordination, security consultations, defense cooperation, joint exercises and increased military interoperability.
The Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Investment Fund, established in 2023, was designed as one of the main instruments of economic relations between the two countries. The fund’s portfolio stands at $500 million, while the total value of the projects announced and signed during the latest visit exceeded that amount. A plan to invest $5 billion in Uzbekistan’s tourism sector became one of the most notable signs of the expansion of economic cooperation.
Partnership in the automotive sector also came to the fore. Azerbaijan’s investment of more than $80 million in the project in Hajigabul and the construction of a second factory were viewed as developments showing that production and technology transfer, as well as trade, are gaining importance in bilateral relations.
Energy cooperation takes on a new dimension
The energy sector emerged as one of the main areas shaping the future of relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The activities of Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company SOCAR in Uzbekistan are moving toward a more integrated structure covering not only oil and natural gas exploration but also production, processing, trade, logistics and retail.
In the geological exploration project conducted by SOCAR, Uzbekneftegaz and BP across six investment blocks in the Ustyurt region, BP holds a 40 percent stake, while SOCAR and Uzbekneftegaz each hold 30 percent. Expectations that the region may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves point to the project’s potential importance for Uzbekistan’s energy security.
For Azerbaijan, the objective of energy cooperation is not limited to entering the Uzbek market. Projects that could be developed across the Caspian Sea could strengthen Azerbaijan’s position as a transit and energy hub carrying Central Asian energy resources to European markets.
Coordinating the energy systems of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and laying a high-voltage subsea cable beneath the Caspian Sea could create new opportunities to transmit Central Asia’s renewable energy potential to Europe. If implemented, the project could strengthen Azerbaijan’s role not only as a transport corridor but also as an energy corridor.
Cultural ties support the strategic partnership
Shared linguistic, historical and cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are among the factors strengthening the social foundation of their political relations. Uzbekistan’s opening of a school named after Mirza Ulugh Beg in the city of Fuzuli, which was liberated from occupation, and the expansion of Nizami Ganjavi Pedagogical University in Uzbekistan with new buildings demonstrated the role of cultural diplomacy in bilateral relations.
Steps to support the use of both countries’ national languages also strengthened their shared identity and vision of a common future. In this context, Baku-Tashkent relations are creating a broader basis for cooperation in the Turkic world beyond the intergovernmental interests of the two countries.
Potential implications for Türkiye
Cavid Veliyev, a member of the board of the Center for International Relations Analysis, said the rapprochement between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan has direct strategic implications for Türkiye. Strengthening the Turkic world is among Türkiye’s foreign policy priorities, and closer transport and energy ties between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan could support Türkiye’s transit position between East and West.
Relations between Türkiye and Azerbaijan have reached the level of a strategic partnership, while Türkiye-Uzbekistan relations are moving toward a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Ankara-Baku-Tashkent axis is emerging as a significant trilateral structure in the economic and geopolitical integration of the Turkic world.
The trilateral cooperation mechanism between Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan began in Tashkent in 2022 and gained a more concrete framework with the second meeting held in Ankara in 2025. The parties agreed on a joint action plan in the areas of economy, trade, investment, transport and logistics, and identified the development of the Middle Corridor as one of the main areas of cooperation.
Strengthening the Middle Corridor’s connection to the Development Road, which will extend to Türkiye via Iraq, could create a broader Eurasian transport network. This approach could support Türkiye’s goal of becoming not only a transit country in trade between Central Asia and Europe but also a logistics and trade hub.
The implementation of the agreements signed and projects announced by the two countries will be a key factor shaping the future of their relations. The extent to which political trust between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan can be converted into economic and geostrategic capacity will determine the partnership’s impact on connections among the Turkic world, Central Asia and Europe.
