Military Cooperation Is Deepening Without Becoming a Four-Country Alliance

## Verified facts

The supplied evidence describes expanding military cooperation among Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, while explicitly distinguishing that cooperation from a unified four-country alliance.

The strongest bilateral relationship is between Azerbaijan and Türkiye. The 2021 Shusha Declaration formalized their allied relationship and identified joint training, exercises, personnel exchanges and improved interoperability as areas of defense cooperation.

Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan signed a Treaty on Allied Relations in August 2024. The evidence presents this as a separate bilateral allied framework, not as proof of a joint military command or a four-country defense pact.

Kazakhstan’s involvement is shown mainly through multilateral exercises. In July 2024, Azerbaijan participated in the Birlestik exercise in Kazakhstan. The exercise was organized under a plan involving Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, meaning it included five countries rather than only the four states examined in the story.

The evidence also describes Power of Unity–2026, a trilateral exercise involving Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan. It opened on 22 September at Azerbaijan’s Gizilgaya training center in the Khojavand region, with activities also taking place in Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan’s Caspian sector. According to Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, the exercise focused on practical skills, experience-sharing and coordination. A later phase reportedly included naval scenarios involving coastal-infrastructure protection, mine clearance and response to the seizure of a vessel.

## Interpretation

These arrangements indicate that military cooperation is becoming more practical and visible. Joint exercises can give participating forces opportunities to practice communication, staff procedures and coordination, while bilateral agreements provide a more formal political foundation for some relationships.

The pattern is better understood as a flexible regional security network than as a single military bloc. Azerbaijan–Türkiye ties appear to be the firmest bilateral foundation, while Azerbaijan’s treaty with Uzbekistan adds another formal connection. Exercises such as Birlestik and Power of Unity expand contact across a wider group of states but vary in participants and scope.

The evidence does not establish a common command, shared military doctrine, permanent regional force or collective obligation to respond to an attack on any participating country. It also does not demonstrate that the four governments have made a coordinated break with Russia-led security structures. Joint training shows that countries can cooperate in selected formats; it does not by itself establish how they would act together during a crisis.

## Overall assessment

The most defensible conclusion is that cooperation among Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is deepening but remains uneven and deliberately flexible. This flexibility may make cooperation easier to sustain despite differing security priorities, external relationships, command structures and equipment. At the same time, those differences may limit how far coordination can develop without additional institutional commitments and repeated practical testing.