Kyrgyzstan’s president: Azerbaijan to expand opportunities in Central Asian cooperation

Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Zhaparov has welcomed Azerbaijan as a full-fledged participant of the Central Asian Consultative Format, expressing confidence that Azerbaijan will expand opportunities for the Central Asian Consultative Format.

“The Kyrgyz Republic supports the initiative for the Republic of Azerbaijan to join our consultative meetings format as a full member. Expanding our format with fraternal Azerbaijan will open new opportunities and broad horizons for cooperation in Central Asia, particularly in international transit, logistics, and energy,” Zhaparov stated at the 7th Consultative Meeting of Heads of State of Central Asia in the “Central Asia + Azerbaijan” format, per Azertag.

“Today, we can confidently say that the consultative meetings format of the Central Asian heads of state has proven successful. It has demonstrated its viability and become a genuine, one-of-a-kind platform where not only existing regional challenges are discussed, but new initiatives and proposals are actively put forward,” Zhaparov noted.

Touching on the role of the Zangezur Corridor in regional and global cooperation, Zhaparov said: “Today, we are witnessing the creation of a new regional transport artery. The construction of the strategically important China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will not only connect but will also reshape logistics, opening the shortest route for our countries to the largest markets in Asia and Europe. In this context, the Zangezur Corridor project is seen as a logical and strategic continuation of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway."

For the record, the 7th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in the format “Central Asia+Azerbaijan” is being held at the Congress Center in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

By Khagan Isayev