Middle Corridor - The Times Of Central Asia

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Azerbaijan

Aliyev Sees Azerbaijan and Central Asia’s Interests Converging

The Shusha Global Media Forum, an annual gathering held in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region and conceived as a platform for journalists and media representatives from dozens of countries across Europe and beyond, including the United States, acquired broader regional significance last year because of its consequences for several Russian participants. Last year’s forum attracted widespread attention in Russia after two prominent Russian participants faced repercussions at home. Mikhail Gusman, then first deputy director general of the state news agency TASS, was dismissed shortly after attending the event and praising Azerbaijan, although no official reason was given. The following month, pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov was designated a “foreign agent” after facing criticism for his favorable comments about Azerbaijan. It was therefore unsurprising that this year’s forum attracted close attention from media outlets around the world. Beyond the forum’s Russia-related significance, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev’s remarks pointed to a broader regional shift. Azerbaijan increasingly sees its political and economic interests converging with those of Central Asia, particularly through the Middle Corridor, cross-Caspian energy links, and infrastructure cooperation. According to official figures, approximately 160 journalists, experts, and public officials from 53 countries attended the event. The forum brought together representatives of around 30 international news agencies, more than 60 leading media organizations, and roughly 10 international organizations and companies. Former TASS executive Mikhail Gusman attended the fourth Shusha Global Media Forum and highlighted its growing international profile. “There are very few, if any, media platforms in the world that bring together representatives of media organizations from every region to exchange views and engage in dialogue. That is precisely why the importance of this forum cannot be overstated,” he said. As in previous years, President Aliyev opened the forum and spent nearly three hours answering questions from journalists representing a wide range of countries. Given the latest deterioration in relations between Baku and Moscow, many observers were watching to see whether questions would prompt unusually sharp comments about Russia. The organizers did not shy away from potentially sensitive questions. Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon, who has been designated an extremist in Russia, was once again invited to the forum and made full use of the opportunity. Gordon noted Ukrainian drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia before asking Aliyev what counsel he would offer Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin. “What advice would you give Putin today, when, in my view, he no longer has any good options left?” Gordon asked. Aliyev avoided an overtly confrontational response, stating that Ukraine should “never agree to occupation” and that the war “must be stopped—and stopped immediately.” Aliyev’s exchange with journalists and analysts from Europe and the United States painted a clear picture of Azerbaijan’s worldview and the role it sees for itself internationally. That perspective remains heavily shaped by the three-decade conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Karabakh. According to Aliyev, the United States, France, and Russia all sought to preserve the status quo during that period. He described those decades as a “time of war,” arguing that...

U.S.-Turkmenistan Relations

U.S., Turkmenistan Draw Closer with Senator’s Visit to Ashgabat

Turkmenistan wants to deepen cooperation with the United States in areas including fuel and energy, transport, finance, banking, and artificial intelligence, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov has told a visiting U.S. senator. Senator Steve Daines, a Montana Republican who is a leading advocate of U.S.-Central Asia collaboration, also met Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Serdar’s father and powerful predecessor, as well as Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, in Ashgabat on Thursday. “Our country, endowed with rich natural resources, is implementing a strategy of diversifying energy supply routes and stands for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation based on equal consideration of the interests of producers, consumers, and transit countries,” state media said in a report on the meeting between the president and Daines. Turkmenistan has large natural gas reserves, and China is the primary buyer. Although Turkmenistan is one of the most closed countries in the world, it has been taking steps to expand international contacts and develop its role in the so-called Middle Corridor, a trade network that links China and Europe via Central Asia and has grown in importance during the Russia-Ukraine war. The United States, meanwhile, is building closer ties with Central Asian governments, seeking access to critical minerals and energy, and aiming to reduce Chinese and Russian influence in the region. Daines serves on several Senate committees, including energy and natural resources. He has said he won’t seek re-election this year. Commenting on the senator’s visit, state media in Turkmenistan noted that some major American companies, including Boeing, General Electric, John Deere, and Case New Holland, had been involved in projects in the country for years. U.S. goods trade with Turkmenistan was $152.7 million in 2025, according to U.S. government data. U.S. goods exports to Turkmenistan last year were $113.3 million, up 43.6% from the previous year, and U.S. goods imports from Turkmenistan were $39.4 million, up 169% from 2024. While those numbers are low compared to the volume of trade between the United States and bigger trading partners, the annual percentage increase is notable. A day before his meetings in Turkmenistan, Daines was in Kazakhstan, where he discussed trade and diplomatic ties with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Kazakhstan's leader said he looked forward to traveling to Miami in December to participate in the G20 summit.

Middle East Crisis

U.S. Strikes on Iranian Rail and Coastal Infrastructure Put Central Asia’s Southern Routes Under Pressure

U.S. strikes on Iranian rail and coastal infrastructure have put Central Asia's southern transport plans under new pressure. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have spent years building routes through Iran to reach the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and markets beyond Russia. Public statements so far do not show a confirmed halt in Central Asian freight, but bridge damage near Iran's border with Turkmenistan and strikes along Iran's southern coast have made the security picture more concrete. Reports and a video posted on July 9 showed damage to the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge, on Iran's rail link to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, after overnight U.S. strikes. Reuters said it verified the location by matching the bridge, riverbank, road, fields, and nearby town with satellite imagery, and found no earlier versions of the video online. Iran's Revolutionary Guard-linked Neynava Corps in Golestan said the area around the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge in Aq Qala County was targeted by U.S. cruise missiles early on July 9, with no casualties reported. The bridge sits on the Gorgan-Incheh Borun railway line, which reaches the Incheh Borun border crossing with Turkmenistan and links onward to Kazakhstan. Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, Jabar-Ali Zakeri, said engineers had rebuilt one damaged track on the Mashhad route and returned it to service in less than 15 hours, according to Fars News Agency. He said work on a second damaged line was continuing and was expected to finish within hours. That statement concerned the Mashhad route, however, and does not confirm the status of the Gorgan-Incheh Borun line. The route sits inside a wider transport effort that Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, China, and Russia have all tried to expand. TCA has previously reported on a 2024 test container train on the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran route, which ran from Xi'an to Tehran. It carried 45 forty-foot containers loaded with auto parts and cut the China-Iran delivery time to 15 days. The Gorgan-Incheh Borun railroad was inaugurated in December 2014, linking Iran to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan along the eastern side of the Caspian Sea. The wider Uzen-Bereket-Gorgan route runs for more than 900 kilometers from western Kazakhstan through Turkmenistan into northern Iran. It connects Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan’s rail networks to Iran’s system and onward to the Persian Gulf and Asian markets. The U.S. military has framed the latest strikes as a response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping. U.S. Central Command said on July 8 that its forces had struck about 90 Iranian military targets, including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran's coastline. CENTCOM said the operation was designed “to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz.” The coastal security picture also impacts Kazakhstan through Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas. On June 28, Kazakhstan and Iran signed a 27-year Build-Operate-Transfer agreement for a Kazakh transport and logistics terminal there. The Kazakh embassy in Tehran said the deal...

TCA Interviews

Kazakhstan Seeking to Turn Transit Routes Into Investment Growth, Vice Minister Says

The development of transport and logistics has become one of the main priorities of Kazakhstan's economic policy as the country seeks to turn its position between China, Russia, the Caspian Sea, and Europe into long-term growth. Government transport data show the broader transport and warehousing sector grew in January-May 2026, although rail freight and cargo turnover remained under pressure. Large-scale rail, road, port, warehouse, and digital projects now sit at the center of that effort. The sector requires tens of billions of dollars in investment, while the reshaping of Eurasian supply chains since 2022 has raised the importance of the Middle Corridor and Caspian-linked routes. Can Kazakhstan attract the capital needed to implement large-scale infrastructure projects? How will changing investment priorities affect regional development? And how could new investment reshape the country's transport market? The Times of Central Asia discussed these questions with Maksat Kaliakparov, vice minister of transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan. TCA: How would you assess the current investment attractiveness of Kazakhstan's transport sector? How much foreign investment has the industry attracted recently? Maksat Kaliakparov: The investment attractiveness of the sector is high and continues to strengthen. In 2025 alone, gross foreign direct investment into Kazakhstan's economy reached $20.5 billion, an increase of 14.4% compared with the previous year. Investment is increasingly flowing into transport and logistics alongside manufacturing, digital infrastructure, and the financial sector. The transportation and warehousing sector was among the country's fastest-growing industries in January-May 2026, expanding by 8.4%. Investor interest is also reflected in the fact that, in 2025, Kazakhstan signed 88 commercial agreements worth more than $69.5 billion with partners from China, the UAE, the United States, and European countries. A significant share of these funds will be directed toward transport and logistics projects. More broadly, Kazakhstan's investment policy framework includes a target of increasing annual foreign direct investment inflows to $25.5 billion while raising investment in fixed capital to 25.1% of GDP. TCA: Which segments of the industry are currently attracting the greatest investor interest: railways, highways, aviation, ports, warehousing, or digital logistics? Which areas will require the largest investments in the coming years? Maksat Kaliakparov: Investor interest is spread across several major segments. Railways remain a key priority. Kazakhstan is implementing modernization and new construction projects, including the recently commissioned Dostyk-Moyynty railway section, as well as the Darbaza-Maktaaral and Moyynty-Kyzylzhar lines. By 2030, the country plans to build or modernize approximately 5,000 kilometers of railway infrastructure. Maritime and port logistics are also attracting substantial investment. Expansion is underway at the ports of Aktau and Kuryk, while a new container hub in Aktau is being built with the participation of China's Lianyungang Port Group. The project is expected to increase capacity to 240,000 TEU by the end of 2026. Road infrastructure has secured a landmark private investment through the Car Park Transformer roadside service network. Warehouse and multimodal logistics continue to develop, including through Kazakhstan's terminal at Georgia's Port of Poti. Digitalization is another important area. In particular, the pilot Smart...

Maritime Transport

Turkmenistan and Damen Shipyards Discuss Caspian Port Cooperation

Turkmenistan has held talks with Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Group about increasing their collaboration at the Turkmenbashi port on the Caspian Sea. The talks come as Turkmenistan seeks a larger role in the Middle Corridor, a trade network linking Asia and Europe via Central Asia and the Caucasus. The talks took place this week during a visit by Ambassador Sapar Palvanov to the headquarters of Damen Shipyards Group in the Netherlands, according to the Turkmen embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Palvanov is also Turkmenistan’s ambassador to Luxembourg and the Netherlands, as well as head of Turkmenistan’s mission to NATO in Brussels. “The discussions focused on prospects for expanding cooperation between Turkmenistan and Damen Shipyards, including the possibility of joint vessel construction at the shipbuilding facility of the Turkmenbashi International Seaport,” the embassy said. “Particular attention was given to further cooperation in the field of dredging.” Engineers from Damen, a major global shipbuilder, have already worked with their counterparts in Turkmenistan. The country’s Agency of Maritime and River Transport said in 2024 that the Balkan Shipyard in Turkmenbashi would begin assembly of the Damen CSD 650 dredger under Damen’s supervision. At the time, the agency described the assembly as the first step toward “localizing” the production of Damen dredgers in Turkmenistan. “Damen dredgers are in high demand in Turkmenistan, where they are used for dredging, construction and repair of port facilities, and for sand and gravel extraction,” it said. Dredging is important for trade across the Caspian Sea because of declining water levels that could make it more difficult to access ports and navigation channels. In an analysis published by Carnegie Politika last year, writer Aida Amangeldina cited a report saying the Caspian Sea’s level began falling in 1995 and dropped by about two meters between 2006 and 2024. “The Caspian Sea’s falling level is driven by multiple factors including the regulation of river inflows, desalination, and hydrocarbon contamination,” Amangeldina wrote. “The primary cause, however, is climate change, which has led to reduced precipitation and increased evaporation across the drainage basin, exacerbating water loss.”

South Caucasus

As Azerbaijan Pushes Back Against Moscow, Central Asia Watches

The recent diplomatic escalation between Azerbaijan and Russia appeared to have run its course in April, after Moscow agreed to pay compensation over the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan. Instead, the dispute has entered a new phase, and its implications now reach beyond the South Caucasus. On July 6, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian Ambassador Mikhail Yevdokimov and handed him a formal note of protest over what Baku described as a Russian drone strike on a fuel station owned by Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region on the evening of July 5. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said the attack on SOCAR facilities in Ukraine was not an isolated incident. It cited previous strikes on the company’s gas distribution compressor station and oil depot in Odesa, which caused material damage and injured employees. Baku also pointed to earlier damage to the Azerbaijani embassy building in Kyiv and the honorary consulate in Kharkiv, calling on Moscow to investigate and comply with its obligations to protect civilian infrastructure and diplomatic missions. At the same time, Shusha — known to Armenians as Shushi, retaken by Azerbaijan during the 2020 Karabakh war, and still regarded by many Armenians as occupied — hosted an international conference devoted to what participants described as Russia’s “colonial policy,” the “Circassian genocide,” and the situation of non-Russian peoples within the Russian Federation. The conference declaration called on Moscow to “recognize its historical crimes, abandon its chauvinistic policies, and end the forced recruitment of ethnic minorities into the war against Ukraine.” Experts from Azerbaijan, the United States, France, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Türkiye, and Georgia attended the conference. None of the Central Asian republics was represented. That absence was telling. Central Asian governments may be distancing themselves from Moscow in certain areas, but they remain reluctant to participate in openly anti-Russian political initiatives. For Astana, Tashkent, Bishkek, Dushanbe, and Ashgabat, the question is not whether Russia’s position has weakened, but how far they can move without provoking pressure from Moscow. For Central Asia, the dispute is not a distant quarrel in the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is now a central link in the westward routes that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan are trying to strengthen as alternatives to Russian territory. The Middle Corridor runs from China through Central Asia, across the Caspian Sea, and onward through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye to Europe. Any deterioration in Azerbaijan-Russia relations therefore has practical implications for Central Asian transit, energy, and diplomatic room for maneuver. The first major rupture in relations between Baku and Moscow came after Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243, traveling from Baku to Grozny, was damaged by Russian air-defense fire over Russian territory on December 25, 2024. The aircraft later crashed while attempting an emergency landing near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. Azerbaijan blamed Russia and demanded an apology, accountability, and compensation. Relations deteriorated further in June 2025 following the detention of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg and reports of torture. The most prominent victims were the...