Deepening Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz Relations: From Strategic Partnership to Alliance

Relations between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have reached a high level in recent years. The relations, which rose to the level of strategic partnership in 2022, transitioned to a higher political stage in July 2026 — allied relations.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan were established on January 19, 1993. The embassy of our country in the Kyrgyz Republic began its activities on October 11, 2007, and the embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Azerbaijan was established on October 24, 2014. Thus, for a long time the two countries maintained their relations on a diplomatic level.

But the current level of relations was mainly formed over the past few years. In April 2022, during the official visit of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov to Azerbaijan, the "Declaration on Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic" was signed. One of the outcomes of this visit was the signing of the "Memorandum on the Establishment of an Interstate Council" between the two countries. Thus, bilateral cooperation was brought to a new institutional level. This is due to the fact that the memorandum is an important document signed to further enhance the level of strategic cooperation and political dialogue between the two countries. On October 11, 2022, during President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Kyrgyzstan, the first meeting of the Interstate Council was held, thereby creating a more systematic mechanism for implementing the decisions made at the level of the two countries' leaders between governments and other state structures.

The Kyrgyz-Azerbaijani Friendship Park was opened in Bishkek in October 2022 during President Ilham Aliyev's state visit to Kyrgyzstan. As part of this visit, opening ceremonies were held for School No. 103 named after Nizami Ganjavi and the Heydar Aliyev school-gymnasium complex. Another area of humanitarian ties is Azerbaijan's attention to the legacy of the great Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov. Naming Baku School No. 133 after Chingiz Aitmatov and installing a monument to the writer in Baku are steps that serve to strengthen the ties between the literary and cultural heritage of the two peoples. And in April 2024, Sadyr Japarov's state visit to Azerbaijan demonstrated the next stage of relations.

During the visit, a ceremony for signing Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz documents was held in the presence of President Ilham Aliyev and President Sadyr Japarov. The leaders signed the "Decision of the Second Meeting of the Interstate Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic" and a joint declaration.

One of the important political outcomes of this visit was that ties were established not only between Bishkek and Baku, but also with the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation. On the initiative of the President of Kyrgyzstan, a secondary school for 528 students was built in the village of Khidirli, Aghdam