FOR UNITY

Official visit of the Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Azerbaijan demonstrated the steady development of strategic partnership and allied cooperation between the two countries. At the same time, the results of meetings held in Baku, primarily between the heads of the two states, are of great importance for the development of integration processes throughout the Turkic world and its transformation into one of the influential centres of power in Eurasia.

Economic perspectives and corridors

Tokayev's visit to Baku also had a remarkable symbolic meaning, as it took place on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan (August 30, 1992).

During the visit, delegations from both countries signed about 20 documents that are supposed to raise the level of Azerbaijani-Kazakh relations to a different level. Among them are the Comprehensive Program for Bilateral Cooperation in 2022-2026, as well as the Declaration on Strengthening Strategic Relations and Deepening Allied Co-operation. Moreover, the declaration signed by the presidents of both states determines the long-term goals of bilateral cooperation based on the principles of friendship and brotherhood, alliance and partnership between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Both documents aim at strengthening economic cooperation, highlighting the importance of expanding transport links between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, as well as further efforts to increase the competitiveness of transport corridors across the two countries. Hence, the need for mutual assistance in the implementation of the Trans-Caspian international transport route projects, as well as joint efforts to improve the efficiency of existing infrastructure for reliable and safe delivery of Kazakh oil, oil products and gas to international markets through Azerbaijan.

The importance of the Trans-Caspian transport corridor, which connects Asia and Europe via Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, has increased significantly amid the worsening relations between Russia and the West as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian war and the introduction of sanctions against Russia. Thus, international transport companies abandoned shipments via Russia and preferred the Trans-Caspian corridor, which increased shipments via this transport link. At the same time, Kazakhstan was compelled to find alternative routes for its oil exports to Europe due to repeated failures of the Novorossiysk port terminals. That is why President Tokayev instructed the Kazakh government to identify alternative oil transportation routes, in particular the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Supsa pipelines. Apparently, an agreement on the use of the Azerbaijani route to diversify Kazakhstan's oil supplies to European markets is already possible in the near future.

In the meantime, being one of the transit countries for the transportation of energy resources from Central Asia to Europe, Azerbaijan is important for Kazakhstan not only in the context of economic expediency, but also in terms of strengthening its independence. Because it frees the largest Central Asian state from dependence on a single centre (Russia) in the transit issue. "Azerbaijan is of particular interest to Kazakhstan in terms of development of transport corridors. Undoubtedly, Azerbaijan has an advantage. There are good prospects in this area," said President Tokayev.

President Ilham Aliyev confirmed that there were ambitious plans for the development of transport and logistics infrastructure between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan: "Both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan took timely measures to create such infrastructure. Now we are holding discussions on the cargo flow between our countries and increasing its volume, as well as increasing the transit potential. Relevant authorities are actively cooperating in this direction. I think that the Trans-Caspian corridor has very big prospects and, of course, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan play an important role in the implementation of this project."

It is clear that today's geopolitical realities are pushing Baku and Nur-Sultan to expand economic cooperation. The results of the first meeting of the Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan Business Council, which took place during the Kazakh president's visit to Baku, confirmed the mutual interest between our countries. The parties concluded several agreements, particularly on cooperation between the Kazakh Foreign Trade Chamber and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO) and the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan.

However, the main outcome of the economic component of the visit was undoubtedly the unanimous intentions expressed by the heads of state to bring trade turnover between the countries to $1 billion a year.

Meanwhile, the visit of President Tokayev to Baku covered not only the cooperation in economic, energy and transport areas. Due to new geopolitical realities unfolding in the world and in the post-Soviet space, no less important is the focus of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on strengthening cooperation in the political, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Moreover, this focus has a distinctly common Turkic dimension.

Under the sign of victory

The intensification of pan-Turkic integration is primarily a result of Azerbaijan's victory in the 2020 Patriotic War, which ended the 30-year Armenian occupation of a fifth part of the internationally recognised territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On the way to this victory, Azerbaijan has also accomplished a number of achievements in peaceful areas, including political and diplomatic. In this context friendly states played an important role by providing support to Azerbaijan’s just position on the world stage. One of such countries is Kazakhstan, which, despite its alliance with Armenia within the CSTO, has always supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Nur-Sultan's principal position on this issue was also evident during Tokayev's visit to Baku. The declaration adopted by the heads of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan confirmed their mutual support for the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognised borders of both states. During the extended negotiations with the participation of both delegations, President Tokayev called the de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories a ‘historic event’. Referring to President Ilham Aliyev, he said: "Thanks to your strong and authoritative leadership it was possible to realise the historically significant mission of restoring the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan has always supported the territorial integrity of sovereign states. As far as Azerbaijan is concerned, I think it will be fair to say that this is fully in line with modern international law. We have a common language, common approaches, common views in this context as well. I believe this will serve as a good basis to advance our cooperation in the future.”

President of Kazakhstan also awarded his Azerbaijani counterpart with the highest order of Kazakhstan, Altyn Kyran (Golden Eagle), as a token of appreciation of Ilham Aliyev's role in the liberation of Garabagh. President Tokayev emphasized that this was a sign of recognition of Ilham Aliyev as an outstanding statesman who led Azerbaijan to the historic victory, restored its territorial integrity in full compliance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council and made great contribution to the development of multilateral cooperation between our countries.

Of particular note is Kazakhstan's support for Azerbaijan's efforts to create the Zangezur corridor, a transport link that will connect the East Zangezur region and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. Moreover, the Zangezur corridor is seen as a promising part of the Trans-Caspian Middle corridor.

Remarkably, Kazakhstan is one of the states involved in the reconstruction of the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. This issue was also discussed at the first meeting of the Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan Business Council, with the participation of the heads of the two countries' ministries of economy and businessmen.

Another friendly gesture from Kazakhstan was the proposal to establish the Kurmangazy Centre for Creative Development for Children in the city of Fuzuli. Another initiative was the naming of one of the central streets of Sumgayit after the prominent Kazakh educator, Turkologist Akhmet Baytursynov, and the establishment of a Kazakh yurt in the Seaside National Park in Baku.

Finally, the signing of a document declaring the Azerbaijani city of Shusha and the Kazakh city of Turkestan as twin cities was also a landmark event. This was an extremely important and symbolic event in the context of pan-Turkic solidarity, the recognition of the significance of the Azerbaijani victory for the entire Turkic world and the improvement of its role in the world arena.

It is clear that the results of the Kazakh president's visit to Azerbaijan, as well as the Azerbaijani president's recent visit to Uzbekistan, are in line with the growing strength of the Turkic states and the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) that they have created in the international arena. In particular, Ilham Aliyev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recorded in the declaration their determination to continue to make joint efforts to strengthen the OTS and its role in the international arena, to support the implementation of the Vision of the Turkic World 2040, while refraining from any actions that could damage relations between the two states.

In this way, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan reaffirmed their commitment to promoting pan-Turkic integration, which is extremely relevant to the interests of Turkic countries and peoples in the current geopolitical conditions in Eurasia and around the world.