CICA summit opens in Baku, with Hakan Fidan representing Türkiye

The 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) has opened in Baku. Ahead of the high-level international event, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed the heads of state and government and the heads of delegations attending the summit at the venue.

Operative Information Center-OMM reports that, following the official welcoming ceremony, the heads of state and other senior guests posed for a group photo.

The summit is being attended in person by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith, Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog.

Also attending are Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet; Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Thi Anh Xuan; Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi; Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov; Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine Varsen Aghabekian Shahin; and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath. Türkiye is represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

After the group photo, the heads of state and government moved to the plenary hall for the summit, held under the theme “A Stronger CICA: Connectivity, Digitalization and Sustainable Development in Asia.” President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev delivered a speech at the opening of the summit.

CICA was established in 1992 at Kazakhstan’s initiative to promote peace, security and stability in Asia, develop political dialogue among countries and strengthen mutual trust.

The organization has 29 member states: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, China, Palestine, South Korea, India, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Cambodia, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Egypt, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Türkiye, Jordan, Vietnam and Laos. The organization’s headquarters is in Astana.

The Republic of Azerbaijan holds the CICA chairmanship for 2025–2026 and, in this role, is contributing to efforts to strengthen security and cooperation mechanisms across Asia.