Expert: Azerbaijan’s co-op with Kurdistan & Iraq to become positive for region

Trilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Iraqi Kurdistan can create a new dynamic for the Azerbaijani trade towards Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the rest of Iraq, Director of Middle Eastern Studies Center (ORSAM) in Ankara Ahmet Uysal told Report.

Due to the emergence of ISIS, the trade volume between Azerbaijan and Iraq decreased almost ten-folds, he said, adding that this new activism can create a multiplying effect.

Also, Azerbaijani presence in KRG may help Iraq, overall, as an actor that can lay the groundwork for solving the problems both in the country and the region, he noted.

With the victory in the Second Karabakh War and the establishment of Zangazur Corridor, Azerbaijan is expected to be more active in international relations, especially towards the Middle East, he said.

According to him, the corridor will connect Azerbaijan to the Middle East and the rest of the western world through Türkiye. In this regard KRG is one of the first destinations that can be reached through this mechanism.

And Türkiye’s brotherly ties to Azerbaijan and to the KRG facilitates a common ground for both Baku and Erbil, he said.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Head of the Iraqi Kurdistan region Nechirvan Barzani in Munich on February 18. During the meeting, President Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Iraqi Kurdistan can create mechanisms of trilateral cooperation.