CIS Leaders Summit in Turkmenbashi with Ilham Aliyev in Attendance

CIS Leaders Summit in Turkmenbashi with Ilham Aliyev in Attendance

Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, arrived at the Avaza complex in the city of Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan, to participate in the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and was officially welcomed upon arrival by Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan.

This meeting was held on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In his speech at the restricted meeting of CIS leaders, Aliyev, referring to the 35-year record of this regional body, described it as a vital and effective platform for continuing political dialogue, developing mutually beneficial cooperation, and strengthening ties among member states.

The main axes of the Azerbaijani President’s remarks at this summit included major transit goals, readiness for the CIS chairmanship in the coming years, and relations with Central Asian countries, especially Turkmenistan.

Aliyev, noting the creation of new and modern transport and logistics infrastructure in Azerbaijan, said the country has consolidated its position in the international North-South and East-West corridors. According to him, in the first half of 2026, the volume of cargo transportation and transit through the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan increased by 10 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching nearly 8 million tons.

The President of Azerbaijan announced that Baku has begun comprehensive and coordinated planning to raise the volume of cargo transit through the East-West corridor as well as the North-South corridor to 15 million tons per route (a total of 30 million tons per year). Achieving this goal will require developing the capacity of port terminals in the Caspian Sea, modernizing railway lines, developing overland transit routes, and strengthening coordination with neighboring countries, including Iran, Russia, and Central Asian countries.

Aliyev expressed gratitude for the CIS leaders’ support for the decision regarding Baku’s co-chairmanship of the body in 2027, considering this a sign of mutual trust and the high level of Azerbaijan’s international credibility. In 2027, Uzbekistan will hold the CIS rotating chairmanship, and Baku will serve as co-chair alongside Tashkent. Aliyev wished success to Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan, in advancing the organization’s goals and managing future programs.

He also officially announced that the Republic of Azerbaijan is fully prepared to assume the rotating chairmanship of the CIS in 2028 and to organize the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the member states in Baku in the fall of that year.

Another part of Aliyev’s speech was devoted to bilateral relations with Turkmenistan. Expressing gratitude for the warm and traditional hospitality of Serdar Berdimuhamedov, he described relations between Baku and Ashgabat as based on long-standing historical ties, fraternal roots, and of a strategic partnership nature, and said Turkmenistan’s achievements please Baku.

Aliyev, referring to the dynamism in exchanges between high-ranking officials of the two countries in recent years, mentioned his trip to Turkmenistan in August 2025, the reciprocal visits of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, to Baku, and the official visit of Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the Republic of Azerbaijan in June of this year, and said these visits have given impetus to bilateral relations and opened new horizons in the fields of trade, energy, transport, and maritime transit.

In another part of his speech, Aliyev thanked the leaders of CIS member states for supporting the decision to declare the city of Lachin as the CIS Cultural Capital. Referring to the events held in Lachin, he said these programs provided an opportunity for foreign guests to become closely acquainted with the region’s rich history and its extensive reconstruction and rapid revival process.

He also referred to the holding of the third CIS Countries Games in Azerbaijan; a sporting event held over 11 days in seven cities of the country, in which thousands of athletes and guests from member states participated. Aliyev considered these measures to go beyond sports competitions and described them as a bridge for strengthening friendship, mutual trust, and ties among nations.