Uzbekistan's president welcomes Azerbaijan as full-fledged participant of Central Asia Consultative Forum

President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has welcomed Azerbaijan as a full participant in the Central Asia consultative meetings and said the accession will strengthen the region’s role on the global stage.

"Today is truly a historic day for our fraternal peoples. We are making fundamental decisions on the accession of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the consultative meetings format as a full-fledged participant,” President Mirziyoyev said during the 7th Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Heads of State in the “Central Asia + Azerbaijan” format, per Azertag.

He emphasised that deepening solidarity and pursuing shared development goals contribute to enhancing international agency and raising Central Asia’s profile worldwide. “Cooperation within the “Central Asia+” formats has intensified. The region now speaks with a unified position on authoritative international platforms. Undoubtedly, with Azerbaijan’s accession to our format, the voice of our region in the global community will become even more significant,” the Uzbek leader noted.

President Mirziyoyev added, “We will build a solid bridge between Central Asia and the South Caucasus, paving the way for the formation of a unified space of cooperation, which will undoubtedly strengthen the strategic interconnectedness and resilience of both regions. I sincerely thank all my esteemed colleagues for adopting this important decision and congratulate Ilham Heydarovich on Azerbaijan’s accession to the consultative meetings format as a full-fledged participant,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

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