BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 8. A series of international events began on October 7 at Turkmenistan’s Avaza National Tourism Zone and will continue through October 9, bringing together officials from CIS countries, international organizations and regional states.
The program includes meetings of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers, the International Women’s Dialogue, a conference on universal health coverage and other events. The central event will be the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting on October 9, chaired by Turkmenistan.
Ahead of the summit, the foreign ministers reviewed the results of the organization’s work in 2026, prospects for further cooperation and a number of documents to be submitted to the heads of state. Discussions in Avaza are also focusing on regional economic issues, humanitarian cooperation, environmental protection and the rational use of natural resources.
The October meetings effectively mark the culmination of Turkmenistan’s year-long chairmanship of the CIS. The chairmanship can be assessed, above all, through the extent to which its priorities have aligned with Turkmenistan’s own long-term economic interests.
Transport is one of the clearest examples. For Turkmenistan, located between the Caspian Sea, Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan, developing transport links is not only about participating in regional projects but also about expanding the country’s access to international markets. Several concrete developments over the past year point in this direction.
The emphasis on transport connectivity within the CIS in 2026 also reflects broader trends in the previous year. According to the Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS, commercial freight transportation in the Commonwealth increased by 3.2% in 2025 compared with 2024, following 6.6% growth a year earlier. Road freight increased by 5.4%, while road freight turnover rose by 5.9%, indicating continued demand for stronger interregional cargo links.
Growth was accompanied by the expansion of individual transport segments. In 2025, railway freight turnover increased by 10.2% in Kazakhstan, 13.7% in Kyrgyzstan and 17.4% in Tajikistan. In Azerbaijan, waterway freight turnover rose by 5.4%. These figures show that transport infrastructure across the CIS is increasingly serving not only domestic markets but also longer routes connecting different regions.
Against this backdrop, Turkmenistan’s chairmanship can be viewed as an effort to give the existing demand for connectivity more concrete political and practical substance. For CIS countries, this means improving transport efficiency and developing new routes. For Turkmenistan, it also creates an opportunity to connect CIS transport networks with routes leading to the Caspian Sea, Iran, Afghanistan and international markets beyond them.
The Afghan direction has seen practical progress in recent months. In August, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov discussed expanding transit through the Turkmenbashi port and restoring the Lapis Lazuli Corridor during his visit to Afghanistan. In September, technical delegations from the two countries agreed in Herat to establish a joint commission on road transport and step up transit traffic.
The Iranian direction is also developing in practical terms. On October 7, the first day of the Avaza meetings, Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh discussed expanding transit capacity, developing transport infrastructure and strengthening regional transport links.
Azerbaijan holds a particularly important place in this transport architecture, connecting the Caspian route with the South Caucasus and onward to European markets. For CIS countries, developing such interregional links can expand freight routes and diversify trade directions. For Central Asian states, the Caspian connection with Azerbaijan is an important component of the Trans-Caspian Transport Route.
Against this background, Baku’s participation in regional formats, including consultative meetings with Central Asian states, also has practical significance for the broader CIS transport agenda.
For Turkmenistan itself, the Azerbaijani direction received several concrete signs of progress in 2026. During President Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s state visit to Azerbaijan in June, transport and logistics were among the key issues discussed with President Ilham Aliyev. The Azerbaijani president described cooperation in this area as long-term and significant for a broader geographic scope.
“ Without political cooperation, no geographical conditions alone would have allowed us to combine our efforts. We have agreed to deepen coordination in the transport and logistics sphere in order to increase cargo flows — which are already growing as a result of our joint efforts — and to attract cargo from third countries. Therefore, this area will remain one of the priority directions of both bilateral and multilateral cooperation,” President Ilham Aliyev said during a joint press statement with President Berdimuhamedov.
In May, the Gadamly dry cargo vessel, built entirely in Turkmenistan, made its first voyage to Baku. In June, Azerbaijan handed over the Dostlug tanker to Turkmenistan, built at the Baku Shipyard. The two countries also began the practical implementation of e-TIR for cargo transportation across the Caspian Sea.
As a result, the Azerbaijani direction is gradually developing into a comprehensive transport link for Ashgabat, combining maritime, road and multimodal transportation.
The culmination of this work will be the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Avaza on October 9. The meeting is expected to review the results of Turkmenistan’s chairmanship and set further priorities for cooperation, as well as address current international and regional issues.
Among the documents prepared for the summit is a draft statement marking the 35th anniversary of the CIS, as well as a proposal to declare 2029 the Year of Transport Connectivity of the Commonwealth.
If the 2029 initiative is approved, transport connectivity could become not merely one of the priorities of Turkmenistan’s chairmanship, but a long-term agenda for the CIS as a whole. In that case, the developments of 2026 - from coordination of railway systems to the expansion of Caspian and North-South routes - could continue within the next stage of the Commonwealth’s work.
