On 7 October 2025, on the sidelines of the 12th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in the Azerbaijani city of Gabala, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.
Aliyev welcomed Berdimuhamedov, expressing gratitude for accepting the invitation to visit Azerbaijan and participate in the summit. In turn, Berdimuhamedov conveyed greetings from President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and thanked the Azerbaijani side for the opportunity to discuss priority areas of bilateral relations.
The parties highlighted the importance of high-level, trusting relations, which ensure the cooperation maintains a steady and systematic impetus. This meeting was their third in 2025 alone, following talks during Berdimuhamedov’s 16-17 July visit to Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani President’s visit to Turkmenistan on 22 August. Such frequent contact has further solidified the foundation for political, economic, and cultural cooperation.
Both sides emphasized the similarity or convergence of positions on key issues of global and regional politics. Arkadag Berdimuhamedov expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for supporting Turkmenistan’s positive neutrality and Ashgabat’s international initiatives.
In particular, he invited President Aliyev to an international forum dedicated to issues of peace, trust and the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality, which will be held on 12 December in Ashgabat.
Thanking for the invitation, Aliyev stressed that Turkmenistan’s policy of positive neutrality makes a significant contribution to strengthening peace and stability in the region and enjoys broad international support.
Special attention was paid at the meeting to cooperation within the framework of the Caspian Sea.
The parties stressed the need to intensify five-party cooperation on security, economy, ecology, trade, shipping and scientific research. Berdimuhamedov expressed Turkmenistan’s readiness to participate in the next Summit of the Heads of the Caspian Littoral states and suggested highlighting the environmental safety of the Caspian Sea as a key topic of the upcoming summit.
In the trade and economic sphere, the parties noted the productivity of trade turnover and emphasized the need to use the existing potential. An important role in this is assigned to the Intergovernmental Turkmen-Azerbaijani Commission for Economic Cooperation. Prospects for expanding cooperation in transport, logistics, energy, agriculture, the textile industry and new technologies were also discussed.
Cultural and humanitarian cooperation occupies a special place in interstate relations. In 2025, Days of Culture of Turkmenistan are planned in Baku and Ganja, which the Turkmen side is ready to hold at a high level. The parties also confirmed their readiness to implement agreements in the field of carpet weaving and breeding of Akhal-Teke and Karabakh horses.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov invited Ilham Aliyev to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan at a convenient time, reaffirming Turkmenistan’s commitment to close cooperation with Azerbaijan in all areas.
At the end of the meeting, the National Leader of Turkmenistan and the President of Azerbaijan expressed confidence in the further development of friendly interstate relations for the benefit of fraternal peoples and exchanged best wishes. ///nCa, 8 October 2025