BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 2. Azerbaijan’s
relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have
entered a new stage in recent years. Baku is now attracting
attention not only as an important actor in the South Caucasus, but
also as a country playing an important role in connecting Central
Asia, China and Europe. President Ilham Aliyev’s participation in
the SCO Plus meeting in Bishkek once again demonstrated the growing
importance of this cooperation, political analyst Azer Garayev told
Trend.


“One of the main factors determining Azerbaijan’s importance for
the SCO is its advantageous geographical location. The country has
access to Central Asia through the Caspian Sea, Türkiye and Europe
via the Caucasus, and the Middle East in the southern direction.
This feature makes Azerbaijan an important transportation link
connecting various economic spaces across Eurasia.


In this regard, the Middle Corridor plays a particularly
important role. Baku is one of the main transit hubs for delivering
cargo from China and Central Asia to Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea
and then to Europe through Georgia and Türkiye. The Port of Baku at
Alat, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the country’s extensive
road and railway infrastructure increase the capacity of this
route,” he said.


According to him, the importance of these routes for SCO
countries is not limited to accelerating trade.


“The creation of alternative and reliable transportation routes
is gaining increasing strategic importance in the global logistics
system. In this regard, Azerbaijan is becoming one of the important
platforms that SCO countries can use to develop East-West
connections,” the political analyst said.


Garayev noted that the rapid development of Azerbaijan’s
relations with Central Asian countries is also creating additional
opportunities in this process.


“Baku is expanding cooperation with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and other countries in the region in the
fields of transportation, energy, trade and investment. The Caspian
Sea is one of the main geographical bridges underpinning these
ties.


President Ilham Aliyev’s speech in Bishkek also demonstrated the
broader framework of Azerbaijan’s approach to regional processes.
The head of state emphasized that the long-standing conflict in
Azerbaijan-Armenia relations has ended and that the South Caucasus
is becoming a zone of peace. This process is also creating new
opportunities for the opening of transportation links,” he
said.


The political analyst emphasized that Azerbaijan has already
begun supplying oil products to Armenia and providing transit for
cargo from third countries.


“At the same time, Baku is working to increase mutual trade with
Armenia, expand the range of products and establish new overland
transportation links. This could further strengthen the role of the
South Caucasus in the regional trade map in the future.


The Zangezur direction is also of particular importance here.
The establishment of new transportation links could expand the
capabilities of the Middle Corridor and provide more efficient
access for cargo arriving from Central Asia to markets in Türkiye
and Europe. Thus, Azerbaijan is not only a participant in existing
transit routes, but also an active player in shaping the future
transportation architecture of Eurasia,” Garayev said.


According to him, Azerbaijan’s importance for the SCO is also
growing in the energy sector, alongside transportation.


“The delivery of energy resources from the Caspian region to
global markets, cooperation on electricity and renewable energy
projects, as well as the development of energy connections with
Central Asia are creating new areas of cooperation between Baku and
SCO countries.


In this sense, Azerbaijan’s rapprochement with the SCO space is
not a one-sided process. Baku is strengthening its position as a
strategic partner expanding access to Europe for the organization’s
member and partner countries, and as a country playing an important
role for the SCO as a transportation and energy link across
Eurasia.


The SCO Plus meeting in Bishkek also showed that Azerbaijan’s
relations with the organization are not limited to political
dialogue. Mutual interests in transportation, trade, energy and
regional security are steadily increasing Baku’s importance within
the SCO space. Azerbaijan’s main advantage is its ability to
transform its geographical position into tangible economic and
transportation projects,” the political analyst added.