Category: Azer News

Baku Crystal Hall was filled with music, lights and thousands of singing fans last night as Katy Perry brought her hit-filled show to the city.

Perry performed crowd favourites including “Roar”, “Firework”, “Dark Horse”, “Hot N Cold” and “I Kissed a Girl”, keeping the audience on its feet throughout the show. A striking stage setup, lighting and special effects added to the atmosphere.

Earlier in the day, the focus had been on the cars and the action at the Baku City Circuit. By evening, the spotlight shifted to Baku Crystal Hall, where the sound of racing engines gave way to Perry’s music.

The scale of the show reflected Perry’s international success. Her music has generated more than 115 billion streams worldwide, while she is also the best-selling female artist in Capitol Records’ history.

For her fans in Baku, seeing one of the world’s biggest pop stars perform live made the night a special part of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.

After a night of music, attention now returns to the track as the 10th anniversary Azerbaijan Grand Prix takes centre stage.

Williams driver Alex Albon has crashed out of the main race at the 2026 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Albon’s car hit the barriers during the race. After the red flag was shown, the Williams car was removed from the track, bringing the Thai driver’s race to an end.

The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is taking place at the Baku City Circuit from September 24 to 26.

The race marks the 10th anniversary of Formula 1 racing in Azerbaijan.

Kazakhstan and China plan to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at the Kazakhstan-China Investment Forum in Almaty.

China remains Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner. By the end of 2025, bilateral trade had approached a record $50 billion. Trade has continued to grow this year, reaching $32.4 billion in the first seven months of 2026, up 24.1% compared with the same period last year.

Tokayev also highlighted the expanding investment partnership. Chinese investments in Kazakhstan have exceeded $29 billion, while thousands of companies with Chinese participation are operating in the country.

Cooperation is developing across a wide range of sectors, including industry, transport and logistics, digitalization, smart cities, satellite technologies, agriculture, healthcare and education. Particular attention is being paid to technology and industrial cooperation, with Kazakhstan seeking to attract more production and high-tech projects rather than relying solely on traditional trade.

Transport connectivity is another important area. Kazakhstan is positioning itself as a major link between China, Central Asia and Europe, with around 85% of China-Europe rail freight passing through its territory.

Tokayev also noted that the visa-free regime between Kazakhstan and China has provided an additional boost to business and people-to-people contacts. The agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments is expected to further strengthen the legal framework for investment cooperation.

The two countries have increasingly shifted their economic partnership toward joint production, technology and logistics, reflecting Kazakhstan’s growing role as a regional trade and investment hub.

“So we wanted to create such a physical and administrative environment so that suppliers would choose to use multimodal transportation through Azerbaijan. Because if you go through Azerbaijan, you have to also use ferryboats,” President Ilham Aliyev said at an event held as part of the 2nd Azerbaijan International Investment Forum.

“So today we see a growing demand for transportation through Azerbaijan. Whether it’s East-West or North-South, we are sitting on these two important junctures. And by the way, we are one of the very few countries that are active participants in both transportation corridors,” the head of state emphasized.

On the margins of the UN General Assembley, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres.

According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the sides exchanged views on regional and international developments, including Azerbaijan’s engagement in the UN framework and its role in promoting dialogue, stability, and cooperation.

Azerbaijan’s active participation within the UN and its specialized agencies, its active contribution to multilateralism, international law, and the principles of the UN Charter was emphasised.

The discussions also addressed Azerbaijan’s contribution as a donor country and its humanitarian initiatives.

The discussion highlighted global climate action and sustainable development, noting Azerbaijan’s successful hosting of COP29, alongside expanding role in renewable energy, transport, and regional connectivity.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov briefed on recent progress in the Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization process, confidence-building efforts in the South Caucasus, large-scale reconstruction in liberated territories supporting the return of former IDPs, and demining efforts.

Azerbaijan views transport corridors not merely as routes for cargo transportation, but as broad economic platforms facilitating the movement of goods and services, energy, data, capital and human capital, Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said at the II Azerbaijan International Investment Forum in Baku.

According to Jabbarov, the development of corridors should not be limited to expanding transit capacity. Instead, economic activities that create additional value should be developed around them.

“We believe that a corridor does not simply mean cargo transportation. In fact, we would like to distinguish five key flows: goods and services, energy, data, capital and, most importantly, people, meaning human resources,” Jabbarov said.

He noted that the main objective concerning goods and services should not simply be transporting cargo from one point to another, but creating added value.

“For example, raw materials from the region can be processed here and delivered to consumers in Trkiye and Europe. This process is carried out by utilizing the opportunities offered by the Alat Free Economic Zone and our industrial parks,” the minister emphasized.

Jabbarov also highlighted energy sustainability as an important area of Azerbaijan’s contribution to regional corridors.

He said new support mechanisms provide for the compensation of up to 70% of transportation costs for non-oil exports within established limits.

“Large-scale green energy projects are already being implemented in Azerbaijan together with leading global companies. The agreement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan within the framework of COP29 laid the foundation for a green energy corridor from Central Asia. At the same time, the Caspian-Black Sea-Europe green energy corridor is being designed to transmit renewable electricity to European markets,” he stressed.

The minister added that these projects create significant opportunities for investors in electricity generation and transmission, as well as in energy-intensive industries.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday that member states “agreed on the terms for releasing pound 6.6 billion from the European Peace Facility for Ukraine.”

According to Kallas, pound 900 million will go toward the EU’s military training mission for Ukraine, while pound 1 billion will fund new joint purchases of military equipment.

The remaining pound 4.7 billion “will reimburse Member States, with some already saying they will channel their share to Ukraine.”

“Moscow’s hybrid attacks try to intimidate Europe into scaling back its support for Ukraine. Europe is doing the opposite,” Kallas said. She also stated that this is “good news for Ukraine and bad news for Russia.”

On September 25, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda.

Stating that Azerbaijan and Tajikistan are friendly and brotherly countries, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the existing opportunities for further developing bilateral cooperation. He stressed the importance of his visits to Tajikistan and those of the President of Tajikistan to Azerbaijan, as well as other mutual visits at various levels, in expanding bilateral relations.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that Kokhir Rasulzoda’s visit to Azerbaijan creates an opportunity to discuss issues on the bilateral agenda, including transport and logistics, economic cooperation, and increasing trade turnover.

Expressing gratitude for the reception and hospitality extended to him, Kokhir Rasulzoda conveyed the greetings and best wishes of President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for the greetings and asked the Prime Minister to convey his regards to the Tajik head of state as well. The head of state fondly recalled his meetings and conversations with Emomali Rahmon in Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, as well as on the sidelines of international events.

Emphasizing that Tajikistan highly values its relations of friendship and strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, Kokhir Rasulzoda said that, thanks to the strong political will and trust-based dialogue of the presidents of the two countries, bilateral cooperation has entered a new stage of development. In this regard, the Prime Minister recalled the ‘Declaration on Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Tajikistan,’ signed by the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan in Baku in 2024.

Kokhir Rasulzoda commended President Ilham Aliyev’s personal contribution to the expansion of bilateral relations.

Touching upon the importance of Azerbaijan’s ‘ASAN Khidmet’ model, the Prime Minister expressed interest in its implementation in Tajikistan.

During the conversation, the parties addressed the transit of Tajik goods through the territory of Azerbaijan via the Middle Corridor to international markets, as well as cooperation in the fields of metallurgy, energy, and agriculture.

Underlining the historical ties between the peoples of the two countries, the sides noted that they share common roots. In this context, the importance of regularly organizing mutual cultural, humanitarian, and sports events was highlighted.

The Prime Minister of Tajikistan expressed gratitude for the quotas allocated by Azerbaijan for Tajik students.

Emphasizing that Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have great tourism potential, the sides touched upon the significance of launching direct flights between Baku and Dushanbe, noting with satisfaction the growth in tourism and passenger transportation. The importance of holding various events to showcase the tourism opportunities of the two countries was also underscored.

During the meeting, the sides discussed issues of mutual interest and exchanged views on the prospects for bilateral relations.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has posted an AI-generated video depicting the Jordanian military and King Abdullah II alongside a song asserting that both banks of the Jordan River belong to Israel.

The video, posted on September 24, comes amid tensions within Israel’s political right following King Abdullah’s address to the United Nations General Assembly and a proposal by opposition politician Avigdor Liberman for Jordan to assume administrative and security responsibility over parts of the occupied West Bank.

The AI-generated video features footage presented as showing the Jordanian Armed Forces and King Abdullah II, accompanied by ‘Shtei Gadot La’Yarden’ (‘Two Banks Has the Jordan River’), a Revisionist Zionist song associated with Ze’ev Jabotinsky.

The song declares that both the western and eastern banks of the Jordan River belong to Israel, including the line: ‘This one is ours, and that one too.’

The video also attacks Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Liberman, describing him as ‘dangerous to Israel,’ before displaying an image of Ben-Gvir alongside the slogan ‘He who believes is not afraid.’

The post followed controversy over comments by Liberman in an interview with the religious-nationalist outlet Besheva, in which he proposed reaching an understanding with Jordan under which Amman would assume administrative and security responsibility for Areas A and B of the West Bank as part of an ‘Israeli-Jordanian confederation.’

Liberman later said that he had mistakenly referred to Areas B and C in the interview and clarified that he was proposing Jordanian administrative and security responsibility for Areas A and B, while Israel would maintain territorial continuity and security control over Area C. He said the proposal was intended to prevent a governance vacuum that could otherwise be filled by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other armed groups.

The proposal drew criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the governing coalition. Netanyahu rejected the idea of transferring security responsibility in the West Bank to Jordan, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also opposed the proposal.

Ben-Gvir likewise mocked Liberman’s proposal, arguing that areas Israel refers to as ‘Judea and Samaria’ are ‘parts of our homeland’ rather than territory that should be transferred to Jordanian control.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of King Abdullah’s address to the 81st UN General Assembly on September 22, in which the Jordanian monarch sharply criticized Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank.

Abdullah accused the Israeli government of accelerating settlement expansion and land seizures in the West Bank and described what he characterized as the ‘de-facto annexation’ of Palestinian territory. He also warned that the situation represented a fundamental shift aimed at making the establishment of a viable Palestinian state impossible.

The Jordanian king also said Israel’s actions in southern Syria posed a direct threat to Jordan’s national security, while stressing that Amman would protect its security, water resources and national interests.

In a statement issued on September 25, the Ministry of Azerbaijan said it was unacceptable to refer to geographical and historical toponyms located in Azerbaijan by other names.

‘Azerbaijan has always respected the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia. At the same time, the Georgian side’s demonstration of the same respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan constitutes an important foundation of the strategic partnership relations established between the two countries,’ the ministry said.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said the approach of the Georgian Patriarchate, which it described as involving territorial claims concerning Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, was ‘incomprehensible.’

The ministry also stressed the importance of religious institutions refraining from approaches that could undermine the historical ties of friendship and good-neighborly relations that have developed between the peoples of Azerbaijan and Georgia over the centuries.

‘In this regard, repetition of the known approaches of the Armenian Church or following its path is not recommended,’ the statement said.

The ministry added that all historical, cultural and religious monuments located in Azerbaijan constitute an integral part of the national heritage of the Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani state.