"Cooperation in education stands as one of the leading areas of cultural and humanitarian partnership between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. In the 2025–2026 academic year, 67 citizens of Uzbekistan studied in Azerbaijan, while 176 Azerbaijani citizens studied in Uzbekistan."

Operativ Media reports that President Ilham Aliyev stated this in an interview with the National News Agency of Uzbekistan.

The head of state noted that the Mirzo Ulugbek Secondary School, built on Uzbekistan's initiative and operating in the city of Fuzuli, is one of the brightest examples of cooperation in education and another manifestation of brotherly relations between the two nations:

"We express our sincere gratitude to the entire Uzbek people and personally to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for this noble initiative, as well as for the support provided for restoration and reconstruction efforts in our liberated territories.

Furthermore, cooperation in the media sector has yielded significant results. The 1st Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan Media Forum was held in Tashkent on September 23–25, 2024, and the 2nd Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Media Forum took place in Baku on September 29, 2025. The 1st Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan NGO Cooperation Forum was organized in Fuzuli in 2023, followed by the 2nd Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan NGO Cooperation Forum in Tashkent in 2024. As a practical outcome of these forums, the two brotherly nations jointly announced a grant competition for NGOs for the first time in 2026. Based on the results of that competition, winning projects from Azerbaijan will be implemented in Uzbekistan, and winning projects from Uzbekistan will be carried out in Azerbaijan.

An increase is also observed in tourist trips from Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan. Our country welcomed 46,000 Uzbek citizens in 2024, 62,000 in 2025, and 44,000 in January–August 2026.

The successful development of interregional cooperation is particularly noteworthy. Sister-city and partnership relations have been established between Baku and Tashkent, Ismayilli and Rishtan, Shusha and Khiva, Lankaran and Bukhara, Sheki and Kokand, Bilasuvar and Termez, Mingachevir and Namangan, Fuzuli and Gulistan, Guba and Jizzakh, and Beylagan and Shahrisabz. Establishing sister-city relations between Nakhchivan and Urgench is planned for the near future. Today, sister-city initiatives between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are especially important as a key platform for cooperation that brings our peoples even closer, preserves shared historical, cultural, and spiritual values, and strengthens friendship and mutual trust among future generations.

Thus, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan is not merely an important facet of bilateral relations, but also a forward-looking strategic humanitarian bridge that safeguards our shared values, rich cultural heritage, and the brotherly bonds between our peoples."