Five years since Azerbaijan’s victory and Central Asian leaders in Washington Caliber.Az weekly review

The Caliber.Az editorial team presents a new episode of the programme “Events” with Murad Abiyev, featuring an overview of the week’s main news stories.

On November 8, Azerbaijan marks the fifth anniversary of its victory in the Patriotic War. Caliber extends its congratulations to all compatriots on this significant occasion. A military parade was held in Baku to commemorate the date. On the tribune, alongside the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, were the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

In his address, Ilham Aliyev emphasised the high moral spirit of Azerbaijani youth, thanks to whom this victory became possible: “We have raised the younger generation in the spirit of patriotism, in the spirit of love for the Motherland, and our young people, putting their chests forward and going under the bullets for 44 days, liberated our historical lands from the occupiers.”

Recalling the history of the great victory, the President also spoke about the ongoing developments of the present day — particularly the revival of Karabakh and East Zangezur. In this regard, he noted the construction of homes, schools, hospitals, industrial enterprises, and other infrastructure facilities.

“More than 60,000 people already live, work and study in the liberated lands,” said the head of state.

Much has already been said about the moral significance of this victory for the Azerbaijani people. Yet, five years is precisely the period after which one can begin to draw conclusions. Let us also briefly attempt to do so.

The liberation of the city of Shusha became both a symbolic and a tangible turning point, shattering the false reality imposed upon Azerbaijan for three decades. The military phase of the victory had largely been completed. It was now time for the active political and diplomatic consolidation of this triumph — the full restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the entire territory of Karabakh.

This was achieved in September 2023, when an anti-terrorist operation was carried out. It put an end to the hopes of Yerevan and the separatists to establish any kind of political entity within the grey zone that had been under the temporary responsibility of Russian peacekeepers. The Azerbaijani flag was raised in Khankendi.

Six months later, in May 2024 — a year and a half ahead of schedule — the Russian peacekeepers left Karabakh. Their withdrawal, in essence, was a historic event in its own right, no less reflective of the profound significance of Azerbaijan’s victory than Armenia’s defeat. The departure of the Russian peacekeepers marked the end of two centuries of foreign military presence on Azerbaijani soil.

The post-conflict peace process with Armenia unfolded under the just conditions set forth by Baku. The central principle of these terms is mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. After several years of diplomatic efforts and actions on the ground, on August 8 in Washington, a joint declaration was signed and a draft peace agreement was initialled. To prove its commitment to peace, Armenia must take one final step — to amend its constitution, which still explicitly contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

In parallel with the peace process with Armenia, Azerbaijan actively began to pursue a foreign policy agenda independent of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict — yet another achievement born of the victory. Azerbaijan stepped beyond the narrow framework of imposed conditions and began to breathe freely on the international stage, emerging as the initiator of its own cooperative agenda.

Azerbaijan has strengthened its ties with the Turkic world — both through bilateral relations with Turkic states and within the framework of the Organisation of Turkic States. Baku has been rapidly enhancing relations with global centres of power — the European Union, the United States, and China — while maintaining an equal and balanced approach towards each. The country is making full use of its geographical position to reinforce its role as a strategic bridge between Europe and Asia amid the new challenges facing the global economic system.

Recognition of Azerbaijan’s growing power came recently in Miami. Speaking at the American Business Forum, U.S. Special Presidential Representative Steve Witkoff enthusiastically recounted a conversation between Donald Trump and Ilham Aliyev that took place in the Oval Office in August this year. Trump reportedly asked Aliyev directly why he had not continued the offensive in the autumn of 2020, given the superiority of his army. To this, Aliyev replied that his goal was solely to reclaim the occupied territories — and he needed nothing more. According to Witkoff, this was “an amazing decision,” demonstrating true statesmanship and leadership.

Such is the remarkable evolution of America — from indulging Armenia’s occupation for three decades to asking, “Why did you stop?” In this case, it matters little that Donald Trump represents a force of revolutionary change within America itself. What is important here is the symbolic dimension: Washington has ceased to uphold the outdated Armenian discourse.

All the transformations I have mentioned would have been impossible without Azerbaijan’s victory in the 44-day war. This triumph became possible thanks to the intellect and will of the Azerbaijani leadership, headed by President and Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. It became possible thanks to the unity of the Azerbaijani people, who day and night supported their fighting army. And, of course, it became possible thanks to the boundless courage of Azerbaijani warriors — the soldiers and officers. We bow our heads in memory of our fallen heroes and express our gratitude to those who live.

Another notable event of the outgoing week was Ilham Aliyev’s address at the gathering dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. In his speech, the President emphasised the need to develop modern technologies across all sectors, placing particular focus on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

The President also touched upon the topic of studying the nation’s history. His remarks on the necessity of Azerbaijanis returning to the territory of present-day Armenia — particularly his use of the historical toponym Goycha — sparked a reaction within Armenian political circles. Baku was accused of harbouring aggressive intentions.

In this regard, I would like to address Armenian society directly. Look at how a simple mention of historical toponyms in the Azerbaijani tradition provokes your indignation and fears for your territorial integrity. Now recall how, for thirty long years, your leaders — and you yourselves — not only renamed foreign toponyms in Armenian fashion, which would have been bad enough, but also kept under occupation the sovereign territories of another state. And then try to understand the grave crime you committed. Look at the map of Azerbaijan from just six years ago, with twenty per cent of our lands shaded — a map we could hardly bear to look at without pain — and recognise the criminal arrogance with which you expected us to accept that reality.

Returning to the theme of victory, it should be noted that it brought liberation not only to the Azerbaijani people, but also to the Armenian nation. It was only after November 2020 that people in Armenia slowly began to realise not only the reality of their military defeat, but also the futility of their former existence within the closed confines of an ideology of national exclusivity.

US–Central Asia summit

During the outgoing week, Washington hosted the C+1 summit — a meeting between the leaders of the United States and the Central Asian states. This platform has existed for ten years, during which the parties have met at the level of heads of state only once before — in 2023, under the Biden administration.

As we can see, this format has gained particular significance in recent years, amid the accelerating geopolitical processes taking place around the world. The Central Asian nations’ desire to strengthen their international standing drives them to build strategic relations with various global centres of power.

For the United States, the importance of the Central Asian region is determined by several factors — foremost among them, strategic security. The region is rich in vital natural resources, ranging from hydrocarbons to uranium and rare earth metals. In this sense, many observers also view the summit in the context of Donald Trump’s recent grand tour across Asian countries.

The distinguishing feature of this summit, compared to the previous meeting in 2023, was its distinctly business-oriented character. No joint statement was issued following the talks — instead, the parties focused on strengthening bilateral relations.

For example, the Kazakh delegation signed more than 30 agreements with American companies worth over $17 billion. Among them was an agreement to establish a joint venture for the development of one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits. Uzbekistan, in turn, signed a $135 billion trade and economic agreement with the United States and reached an understanding on the joint development of rare earth metal deposits.

At the same time, an interesting political decision was announced during the summit: Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords, which aim to normalise relations between Israel and the Muslim world. For all sides, this carries mainly symbolic importance. Kazakhstan has never been in conflict with Israel; however, for both Israel and the United States, it was significant to add another Muslim-majority country to the list of signatories. In doing so, they gained symbolic capital, while Kazakhstan significantly strengthened its position as an important partner of the United States.

It should be noted, however, that for the Central Asian states, strengthening cooperation with the United States is not an all-encompassing priority but rather a means to diversify their foreign economic activity and enhance their sovereignty. No serious weakening of the region’s relations — particularly those of Kazakhstan — with China and Russia is expected.