Tashkent: The development of relations with Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, holds a special place among Azerbaijan's foreign policy priorities. Allied relations built on a solid foundation of friendship and brotherhood exist between the two countries. A shared religion, language, customs and traditions, culture, and historical proximity closely bind the Azerbaijani and Uzbek peoples together. To date, relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have developed on an upward trajectory across all fields, with our countries consistently supporting each other on key issues.
According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, National Leader Heydar Aliyev rendered exceptional services in shaping the strategy for the development of relations between the two brotherly nations. The National Leader's official visit to Uzbekistan on June 18-19, 1997, played a crucial role in defining the future prospects of cooperation. During the visit, a number of vital documents forming the foundation of bilateral relations were signed.
In recent years, relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have become one of the fastest-growing avenues of interstate cooperation. Elevating these relations from a strategic partnership to the level of an alliance has been driven by the high level of political trust established between President Ilham Aliyev and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, along with regular high-level visits and agreements reached. It is no coincidence that over the past five years, President Ilham Aliyev has paid two state visits and four working visits to Uzbekistan. During the same period, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has made two state visits and seven working visits to Azerbaijan.
As part of these visits, the signing of the Treaty on Allied Relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tashkent on August 23, 2024, marked the beginning of a qualitatively new phase in bilateral relations. The holding of the first meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council on the same day further solidified the institutional foundations of this new alliance format.
In the subsequent phase, this political closeness extended to encompass economic cooperation, connectivity, energy, and humanitarian projects. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's accession as a full-fledged participant in the 'C5' format at the 7th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in November 2025 demonstrated that Baku-Tashkent relations have transcended a bilateral framework to gain broader regional significance.
President Ilham Aliyev's current state visit to Uzbekistan is of historical importance for further strengthening allied relations between the two countries and comprehensively expanding cooperation across all areas. During the visit, a number of significant documents covering various fields of cooperation are expected to be signed between the parties.
The legal framework between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan is quite extensive. To date, nearly 220 documents have been signed, with several draft documents currently under review.
To evaluate the strategic importance of Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan relations solely within the framework of bilateral ties would diminish the true scale of these relations. In recent years, the expansion of political, economic, and transport ties between Azerbaijan and Central Asian states has led to the formation of a new model of cooperation between these regions.
One of the most significant indicators of this is Azerbaijan's accession as a full-fledged participant in the 'C5' format at the 7th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, held in Tashkent on November 16, 2025. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev described Azerbaijan's joining of this format as a historic decision, stating that it would build a stronger bridge between Central Asia and the South Caucasus while creating new opportunities for the emergence of a unified space of cooperation. As President Ilham Aliyev noted, Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries form a single historical, cultural, geographic, and geopolitical space of growing strategic significance.