(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 4. Azerbaijan's
involvement is crucial to implementing key transport corridors
within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), analyst of the
Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP) Yersultan
Zhanseitov told Trend on the sidelines of the SCO Summit.
"Azerbaijan is one of the primary geopolitical players in the
Caspian region and Eurasia as a whole. With the resolution of the
Karabakh issue, very important transport corridors that have been
unable to realize their potential for 30 years are being unlocked,"
he emphasized.
Regarding Azerbaijan's participation in the SCO Plus format,
Zhansеitov mentioned that the organization itself is expanding its
horizons, originally founded as a cooperation among five
post-Soviet countries.
"Today, we see that the SCO family is growing, with an
additional member, Belarus, and the prospective inclusion of
Azerbaijan into the SCO family is a mutually beneficial scenario
for all, because without Azerbaijan, the most crucial transport
corridors cannot be realized today. These include the Trans-Caspian
International Transport Route (Middle Corridor).
We see significant interest, for example, from the Chinese side
in expanding this corridor. During President Xi Jinping's current
visit to Kazakhstan, important agreements were reached regarding
the development of this route during his meeting with our President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
It's logical that, without Azerbaijan, this plan cannot be
implemented in any way. Therefore, involving Azerbaijan in all such
strategic processes, including within the SCO framework, is a very
logical and advantageous option for everyone," the analyst pointed
out.
Furthermore, Zhansеitov stated that Azerbaijan is currently a
top priority for exporting Kazakhstani energy resources, as the
country diversifies its supplies to the external market.
"Renewable energy is a very relevant issue because our countries
are strong at exporting energy resources, but a new technological
era is upon us. Now all countries in the world are transitioning to
alternative energy. Cooperation with China, as the largest producer
of new alternative energy sources, is crucial here.
Thus, such an interconnected chain of states is forming on the
Eurasian continent, which, despite its primary export orientation
towards energy resources, simultaneously builds such a 'green'
energy architecture," he explained.
The analyst said that in the context of relations between
Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries, the role of the
Organization of Turkic States (OTS) is important.
"This is because we share common historical roots, we are all
brothers in one Turkic family. It's very important to work in this
ideological direction to create self-awareness among the peoples of
our countries about belonging to a single region and large family,
as in today's geopolitical realities in the world, we are the
closest allies to each other. We have great potential to create a
cohesive and monolithic entity as a union of fraternal states," he
added.
To note, the SCO Summit is taking place in Astana, under the
helm of Kazakhstan.
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