Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan sign Eternal Friendship Treaty, deepening strategic autonomy
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a Treaty on Eternal Friendship during Aliyev's state visit to Uzbekistan on August 23-24, 2026. The 11-article treaty builds on the 2024 Treaty on Allied Relations, adding mutual neutrality and security commitments. The agreement signals a deepening strategic axis between Baku and Tashkent.
Key Facts
- The Treaty on Eternal Friendship was signed on August 23-24, 2026, during President Ilham Aliyev's state visit to Uzbekistan.
- The 2024 Treaty on Allied Relations, signed exactly two years earlier on August 23, 2024, contained 24 articles.
- Article 2 of the 2026 treaty commits both sides to refrain from joining blocs or alliances that harm the other's sovereignty, security, or territorial integrity.
- The treaty prohibits the creation or operation on either country's territory of organizations or groups that could damage the other side.
Treaty Signing
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Treaty on Eternal Friendship during Aliyev's state visit to Uzbekistan on August 23-24, 2026. The new 11-article treaty follows the 24-article Treaty on Allied Relations signed on August 23, 2024. The 2024 treaty established legal obligations for cooperation in energy, environmental security, foreign policy, and diaspora relations. The 2026 treaty is described as a political and ideological pact that consolidates mutual neutrality and security guarantees for the earlier agreements.
Mutual Neutrality and Security
Article 2 of the Treaty on Eternal Friendship states that the parties will not participate in blocs or alliances that harm the sovereignty, security, or territorial integrity of the other side. This obligation echoes Article 3 of the 2024 Treaty on Allied Relations. The treaty also prohibits the use of either country's territory by third states to the detriment of the other party. Additionally, the 2026 treaty bans the creation and operation on its territory of organizations and groups that could damage the other side. This means neither Tashkent nor Baku will allow foreign military bases, intelligence facilities, or logistics to be used against the other.
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Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan sign Eternal Friendship Treaty, deepening strategic autonomy
