Turkmenistan hosted a landmark trilateral summit in Avaza on August 22 bringing together Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The leaders adopted a Joint Statement and signed several key agreements, advancing cooperation in politics & diplomacy, trade & economy, energy, transport & logistics, climate & environment and culture & people-to-people ties.
At the Avaza National Tourist Zone on the Caspian Sea coast in Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY) Chairman Rovshan Rustamov, Turkmenistan’s Railway Transport Minister Mammet Akmammedov and Uzbekistan’s Transport Minister Ilkhom Makhkamov signed a “Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Transport and Logistics Cooperation between the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Railway Transport of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan.”
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and CEO Dovran Saburov signed an MoU between Azerbaijan’s Digital Development and Transport Ministry and Türkmenhowaýollary on Future Development of International Air Connections. Bayramov also signed a Protocol on Establishing Sister City Relations between the City of Fuzuli in Azerbaijan and the City of Arkadag in Turkmenistan with Deryageldi Orazov, the Chairman of the State Committee for the Construction of the City of Arkadag under the President of Turkmenistan.
In his opening speech at the trilateral summit, Berdimuhamedov highlighted political cooperation between Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. “Today’s meeting is of historic importance for multilateral relations. During the talks, we discussed various aspects of cooperation, strengthening multilateral interaction, in the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Today, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are conducting an open dialogue, cooperating and supporting each other’s initiatives within international organizations, including at the UN. This dialogue is conducted on an equal basis not only in the trilateral format, but also within the entire region in order to enhance peace and stability,” he said.
Turning to economic cooperation, the Turkmen leader said, “We have examined the potential of our countries, which contributes to the development of not only our region but also of the Eurasian region. This interaction will strengthen geo-economic cooperation within our entire region. There is ample evidence confirming this. It is enough to note the electric power cooperation, where we have established favorable contacts.
Berdimuhamedov said he discussed with Mirziyoyev and Aliyev important issues related to the deepening of strategic partnership in the gas sector, as well as further prospects, and reaffirmed their readiness to strengthen this cooperation. “In order to restore the Great Silk Road, we have agreed to step up our contacts within the framework of connecting transport corridors linking Europe with Asia. In particular, we have considered the possibility of strengthening the transport infrastructure of Central Asia and the Caspian Basin,” the Turkmen leader also said.
“As part of the multilateral dialogue, we have also agreed to strengthen humanitarian ties. There is tremendous potential in the fields of education, science, sports, healthcare, art, carpet weaving, and other areas. We have good experience of cooperation in these areas. In general, this meeting opens new opportunities for us to strengthen trilateral ties, and in this context, we must work hard to achieve our goals,” he said.
For his part, Aliyev said, “Based on the cultural and historical proximity of our peoples, shared values and strategic interests, we are opening a new chapter in the history of cooperation between three friendly and fraternal states today.”
He reminded that the Turkmen leader visited Azerbaijan last month, including the cities of Baku, Fuzuli and Shusha. “The establishment of twinning relations between the cities of Fuzuli and Arkadag opens up new opportunities for cultural and humanitarian cooperation,” he added.
Azerbaijan’s President also reminded that his country is bound with Uzbekistan by the Treaty on Allied Relations, which was signed on August 23, 2024. “Our fraternal relations with Uzbekistan are based on mutual support, strong cultural ties and common strategic goals,” he said, adding that the two Central Asian countries have achieved significant results in recent years in many areas, including political dialogue, economic and humanitarian cooperation.
“A large sewing factory operates in the city of Khankendi with the support and on the initiative of the Uzbek side. We recently visited it together. The “Uzbekistan” park is under construction in the White City, one of the modern districts of Baku. Together with Shavkat Miromonovich (Mirziyoyev), we laid the foundation of this beautiful park covering an area of five hectares. We have many other investment projects based on mutual interests,” Aliyev said.
Transport and transit cooperation
Azerbaijan’s President noted that Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have an important geo-strategic position connecting East and West, North and South. “New tasks and opportunities lie ahead of our countries in the field of transport and transit cooperation. Among them, together with my esteemed brother Gurbanguly Malikgulyyevich (Berdimuhamedov), we discussed the Middle Corridor, the expansion of ports and railways in detail today. We also discussed these issues with Shavkat Miromonovich during our last meeting. In other words, the joint efforts of the three countries in the field of transport, transit and logistics will be of great importance not only for our countries, but also for the wider region,” Aliyev said.
Uzbekistan’s President Mirziyoyev noted, “We also discussed in detail plans to connect the existing and prospective routes in our region to deepen the integration of national transport systems. Uzbekistan advocates for a coordinated policy in this area, primarily concerning tariff policy and creating favorable conditions for businesses entering international markets. We have agreed to work together on projects to develop logistical infrastructure and ferry transportation across the Caspian Sea,” Mirziyoyev said.
Caspian energy cooperation
Azerbaijan’s President said that all three leaders agreed, “There are ample opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector. We have traditional energy cooperation with Turkmenistan. We have already made a step in this area with Uzbekistan. Our state oil company SOCAR has already started developing an oil field in Uzbekistan and a contract has been signed. We hope that they will give us good news in the next one or two years. We are all eagerly awaiting the news of the discovery of a large oil field in Uzbekistan.”
Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have accelerated energy cooperation in recent years. A symbolic gesture paving the way for joint development of Caspian oil and gas resources was the renaming of the disputed Kyapaz/Serdar field in the Caspian to Dostlug, which means “Friendship” in both Azerbaijani and Turkmen, during the Turkmen leader’s visit to Azerbaijan in July. In 2021, the countries signed a memorandum on exploration of the offshore Kyapaz/Serdar field.
In 2023, discussions between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan reportedly included the participation of Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas giant SOCAR in additional energy projects in Turkmenistan.
Uzbekistan’s President Mirziyoyev confirmed that the three countries explored opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector. “We are talking about promising projects for the development of hydrocarbon fields and the export of generated electricity. The central place on the agenda of the talks was given to the tasks of significantly increasing the volume of trade turnover and expanding the scale of industrial cooperation. We have agreed to stimulate mutual supplies of high-quality products manufactured by our national enterprises,” the Uzbek President said, noting that conditions will be created for the implementation of new investment projects with the fullest involvement of the potential of the regions of the three countries. “We will expand cooperation in the areas of rational use of water resources and counteracting environmental threats,” Mirziyoyev said.
In addition, the Uzbek President said the three countries have proposed adopting a joint program in the field of tourism and cultural exchanges. “Work on the implementation of the agreements reached and the documents signed will be carried out by relevant ministers on the basis of the roadmap,” he said.
