On October 15, an international conference titled “Turkic States in the 30th Year of Independence and Cooperation. New Opportunities for Regional Peace and Cooperation in the South Caucasus.” was held in Budapest, Hungary. The event was organized by the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center), Hungary's Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) and the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council). In their opening remarks, IFAT Director Marton Ugrosdy and the AIR Center Chairman Farid Shafiyev, wished success to the conference and stressed the importance of the conference in the light of the events in the South Caucasus over the past year.

Secretary of State for Security Policy at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Staray, Deputy Secretary General of the Turkish Council Gismat Gozalov and Azerbaijani Ambassador to Hungary Tahir Taghizadeh greeted the conference participants.

The AIR Center Board Member Esmira Jafarova and Head of the department Javid Valiyev have participated in panel discussions on “New Opportunities for Regional Peace and Cooperation after the 44-Days War”. The AIR Center leading advisor Orkhan Baghirov presented a geo-economic atlas of the Turkic world in another panel titled “A New Transport Corridor in the Making and its Reflections to the Regional Economic Cooperation. Presentation of the Geo-Economic Atlas of the Turkic World”.

Representatives of the Center for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey (SAM), the National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Kyrgyz Republic (NISS), the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KazISS) and the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies Under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS) also delivered speeches at the event.

Among the guests of honor of the event were members of The Council of Elders of the Turkic Council - former Turkish Prime Minister and former Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim, former Azerbaijani Prime Minister and former Foreign Affairs Minister Hasan Hasanov. Binali Yildirim pointed out Armenia's policy of occupation and aggression against Azerbaijan, endorsement that it has received from some political forces, and despite Azerbaijan's desire to resolve the conflict peacefully Armenia's refusal to do so. He noted that Azerbaijan responded to the provocations of Armenia by liberating its lands from occupation. Binali Yildirim also touched upon the issue of opening of the Zangezur corridor, its regional significance and importance in fostering cooperation between the Turkic states. Hasan Hasanov spoke about the situation after the 44-day war and the latest developments.