On April 7, the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR center) hosted a round table in a hybrid format dedicated to the second meeting of the Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan Expert Council. Farid Shafiyev, the AIR Center Chairman, mentioned that the expert council was established last year in May and the second meeting has already been organized in a short time. According to him, such meetings have always been relevant for the analysis of bilateral relations, discussion of the general dynamics and issues to be resolved. F.Shafiyev also announced that the planned visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Kazakhstan will give another impetus to the development of bilateral relations. According to his statement, the Caspian region is currently undergoing complex competitive processes, and expert discussions regarding that are of great importance: “Kazakhstan is also actively working in the direction of confidence building and security measures implementation. Historically, the South Caucasus and Central Asia have been closely linked to each other in terms of economy, security, and transportation. Both countries have a great energy potential, and cooperation in this area plays an important role for the world economy.”
Yerkin Tukumov, Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, noted that the dynamic organization of meetings on bilateral relations is an indicator of the growing interest of both countries for each other. According to him, the scheduled visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Kazakhstan will give impetus to the development of bilateral relations. He also stated that the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and the Middle Corridor have great potential for further development of both sides. The head of the institute also highlighted the importance of the tourism sector for further development of bilateral relations: “We need to get to know each other better. I hope that the opening of a new flight between Baku and Astana will be a stimulation for that.”
The Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Agalar Atamoglanov, mentioned that the issues to be discussed in the meeting will have a positive impact on the integration processes between the two countries. According to him, the expansion of bilateral relations with Kazakhstan within the framework of international organizations is one of the important directions of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.
Moreover, the Ambassador added that during the visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Azerbaijan in August last year, the future development directions of bilateral relations were noted in the Declaration on deepening the relationship of strategic partnership and alliance between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. According to him, Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan relations play an important role in the process of integration of the Turkish countries.
Counselor of the Kazakhstan Embassy in Azerbaijan Zhandos Nurmakhambetov said that last year marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and stressed that the year was remembered for quite dynamic processes. According to him, the development of relations has already taken a systemic character.
Further, speeches were made by Zamin Aliyev – the Deputy Chief of the Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, West and Central Asia Department of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, Talgat Kaliyev- the Director of the Institute of Applied Ethnopolitical Research of Kazakhstan, Tofig Abbasov – Director of the Social and Political Programs Department of AzTV, Bulat Auyelbaev – the Chief expert at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Orkhan Yolchuyev – the Director of the STEM, and Timur Kozyrev – the Expert of the International Turkic Academy, covering such issues as the impact of the opening of the Zangezur corridor on the processes of regional development, the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Central Asia and the role of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in the development of transport and energy corridors.
