Azerbaijan-Kyrgyzstan Relations


History of relations: Azerbaijani and Kyrgyz people are connected with close ties thanks to history, language, religion and culture. The relations between the two people go back to history. About 20 thousand Azerbaijanis live in Kyrgyzstan. The majority of Azerbaijanis living in Kyrgyzstan are expelled from Azerbaijan during the repression of 1930s and their children. Representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Kyrgyzstan are actively involved in business, economics and other areas of the country. There are many Azerbaijanis among well-known surgeons, businessmen of the country. Our compatriots mainly live in the cities of Bishkek, Talas and Kara-Balta. Azerbaijanis living in Kyrgyzstan have preserved their customs and their language, despite the fact that they live far from their historic homeland.

Bilateral political relations: Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan was established on January 19, 1993. But initially, these relations were not notable for their intensity. On April 1, 2002, Kyrgyzstan appointed Honorary Consul in Azerbaijan. On May 16, 2007, the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan was opened in Kyrgyzstan. On January 18, 2008, Kyrgyzstan appointed a new ambassador to Azerbaijan. In the first years of independence, the Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz relations as well as with other Turkish states of Central Asia were carried out in the framework of international and regional organizations. National leader Heydar Aliyev had great contribution to the development of bilateral relations.

In December 1993, during a meeting of The Council of heads of CIS there was held a bilateral meeting between President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and the President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev in Turkmenistan. The presence of a solid foundation as a common customs, culture, religion and language to strengthen relations between the two countries was stressed during the meeting.

In August 1995, President Heydar Aliyev paid a visit to Kyrgyzstan to attend the 3rd Summit of Heads of Turkiic-speaking states. President Aliyev met with the President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akaev. During the meeting it was expressed that there was a serious need to discuss issues related to the development of relations between the two countries. The talks held on the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were also widely discussed during the meeting. During the visit Heydar Aliyev took part in the festivities in Bishkek, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Manas epic.

On November 11, 1996, there was signed a protocol on cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic.

On April 23, 1997, President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akaev made his first official visit to Azerbaijan at the invitation of the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. The Presidents

had a face-to-face meeting. A number of issues of mutual interest were discussed at the meeting. Then there were held Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz negotiations with the participation of delegations. During the negotiations President Heydar Aliyev made a speech: "……Azerbaijan will continue to be a reliable partner for Kyrgyzstan in all fields and will use all opportunities for mutual development of useful cooperation ....." During the visit of President of Kyrgyzstan, there was signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic, the agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan Republic and the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic, the agreement on cooperation in tourism and the other 14 papers covering different areas. After signing the documents, the presidents held a joint press conference.

On September 7-8, 1998, President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akaev attended the international conference in Baku on restoration of the historical Silk Road within the TRACECA program. "The main multilateral agreement on international transport for development of the Europe-Caucasus-Asia corridor" and the technical annexes to this document were signed at the conference.

Besides, on April 8-9, 2000, Askar Akayev attended the sixth Summit of Heads of Turkic-speaking states in Baku and the 1300th anniversary celebrations of the epic "Kitabi-Dede Gorgud." President Askar Akaev made a speech at the summit.

On January 25, 2000, President Heydar Aliyev and President Askar Akaev met at the meeting of Heads of the CIS held in Moscow.

President Heydar Aliyev met with President Askar Akaev on April 26-27, 2001, at the Summit of Heads of Turkic-speaking countries held in Istanbul and on August 1-3, 2001, at the informal meeting of Heads of CIS in Sochi.

On December 10, 2003, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev during the World Summit on Information Society held in Geneva. Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, Kyrgyz President said they support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and will hold their stand.

President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh is the most difficult problem of the country and as a President he pushes this issue into the foreground in all his meetings and speeches. During his meeting with Secretary-General of the UN, Azerbaijani President once again stated that solution of Nagorno-Karabakh problem remains as the main one.

On June 2, 2004, minister of Defense of Kyrgyzstan E. Topoyev was on an official visit to Baku. "Agreement on cooperation in military field between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan" was signed during the visit. President Ilham Aliyev received the Minister of Defense of Kyrgyzstan E. Topoyev.

On March 15, 2006, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received the Secretary of State of Kyrgyzstan Dastan Sarygulov. Different fields of Azerbaijani -Kyrgyz bilateral relations were discussed at the meeting.

On November 17, 2006, at the 8th Summit of Heads of Turkic-speaking countries President Ilham Aliyev met with Kyrgyz President K. Bakiyev. Possibility of cooperation in the field of energy was stressed at the meeting and President K. Bakiyev noted the advantage of using the experience of Azerbaijan in the field of energy. Presidents noted the importance of the 8th Summit of Heads of Turkic-speaking countries States and possibility expanding cooperation in a humanitarian field.

On October 3, 2009, the 9th Summit of Heads of Turkic-speaking countries States was held in Nakhichevan of the Republic of Azerbaijan . At the summit Kyrgyz President K. Bakiyev stated that agreement on establishment of cooperation council of Turkic-speaking countries is a good chance to unite. At the end of the summit Presidents signed the Nakhichevan agreement on establishment of the cooperation council of the Turkic-speaking countries States and the Nakhichevan Declaration as a result of the 9th Summit of Heads of Turkic-speaking countries.

Economic relations: Economic relations between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan are not in high level, though in 1997 there was signed agreements on mutual protection and agitation of investments between the Government of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan . In 2009 trade relations of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan were(in thousand USD): import: 7 51, 6; export: 4 558, 5; foreign trade balance:3 806, 9

Cultural relations: Azerbaijani and Kyrgyz people have common culture like other Turkic people. Cultural relations develop between these people. On April 9, 2000, President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev attended the 1300th anniversary celebrations of the epic "Kitabi-Dede Gorgud". In the autumn of 2000, Azerbaijani delegation participated at the 3000th anniversary of the city Osh of Kyrgyzstan.

On January 16, 2001, Committee Chairman of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Kyrgyzstan E. Abdukarimov visited Baku to participate at the 15th meeting of TURKSOY Permanent Council. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev received the participants of the meeting.

On September 5-8, 2006, at film festival "Sherg-Gerb" (East-West) in Baku there was demonstrated a movie shot by Azerbaijani and Kyrgyz filmmakers.

In February and March of 2008, there were some solemn events on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the world famous Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aytmatov. President Ilham Aliyev awarded Chingiz Aytmatov with Order "Dostlug "for his merits in strengthening the mutual relations between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz poet Egemberdi Ermatov translated "Yeddi Gozel" (seven beauties) by Nizami Ganjavi into Kyrgyz language. In 2008, publishing house "Salam" in Bishkek translated the book "Azerbaijanis in Kyrgyzstan" into Russian.

Both republics cooperate within the framework of ECO, UN and OIC. On October 29, 2004, at the 59th session of the UN General Assembly, Kyrgyzstan supported the decision to put the item "the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan "on the current agenda of the General Assembly. Kyrgyzstan supports the position of Azerbaijan in the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The country tried to be active in the solution of the conflict in different periods. In May of 1994, the ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan through the mediation of CIS was signed in Bishkek.

General historical reference was compiled on July 1, 2010