AIR Center

Executive summary: The October 8 Avaza summit was the first Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia with Azerbaijan as a full member, confirming Baku’s regional role and naming it the 2027 chair. Leaders moved the six-country format toward economic coordination, proposing joint production chains, a faster launch of the Council for…

By: Yunis Gurbanov The Eighth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State (CMHS) of Central Asia was held on October 8, 2026, in Awaza, Turkmenistan. It was the first meeting at which Azerbaijan was represented as a full-fledged member of the format. More significantly, the Awaza meeting can be regarded as an effort to provide…

In “Revolution or No Revolution,” published in The Nation on October 2, Pietro A. Shakarian sets out to judge eight years of Nikol Pashinyan’s rule in Armenia. How Armenians assess their own government, its economic model, and its quarrel with the church is their business, and it is not for an Azerbaijani analyst to adjudicate….

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and China increasingly seek to strengthen the Middle Corridor as a trans-Eurasian trade and logistics route. China’s proposal to extend Lianyungang Port’s existing logistics chain to Baku, alongside expanding container capacity at Aktau and new multimodal transport agreements, reflects a shift toward integrating previously separate infrastructure projects. Building on the existing Lianyungang–Khorgos–Aktau “Three…

Executive Summary: At an EU–Uzbekistan conference in Tashkent on September 30, officials signaled that the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor is shifting from political commitments to implementation, backed by growing European bank financing in Uzbekistan. In Kazakhstan, German logistics firm Rhenus Group and local partners agreed to advance a planned container terminal at Aktau, and Rhenus plans…

Executive Summary: Seoul’s inaugural Korea–Central Asia Summit moved relations from bilateral channels to a regular regional framework, with the Seoul Declaration setting four cooperation priorities for the next 30 years. Driven by its need for critical minerals, Seoul used this framework to secure 116 business memoranda, tailored deals with each Central Asian state, and new…

Over the past month, Azerbaijan has been tested on a front that draws far less attention in Western capitals than its energy diplomacy or its peace process with Armenia. On September 21, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 309, which prohibits clothing items in state schools that conflict with the uniform dress code and…

Key Takeaways: The article argues that Azerbaijan’s restoration of territorial integrity through the 2020 Second Garabagh War and the 2023 dismantling of separatist entities has consolidated its sovereignty and enabled a more independent, proactive foreign policy free of external patronage. President Ilham Aliyev’s October 2026 speech is presented as outlining the need for continued military…

Executive Summary: Azerbaijan and Türkiye signed defense contracts worth more than $500 million in Baku on September 30. The contracts cover trainer aircraft, loitering munitions, a coastal defense system, and radars, along with an agreement to build a Turkish–Azerbaijani production facility in Nakhchivan. The Czechoslovak Group announced a joint venture valued at 1.8 billion euros…