Azerbaijan's parliament speaker attends Aqaba Process AI security summit in Astana

Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (National Assembly), took part in an Aqaba Process summit on artificial intelligence security in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 6 November 2026, according to Report.az and the Astana Times. The gathering, part of a security platform founded in 2015, brought together the presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Who attended and what was said

• Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended, the Astana Times reported, citing Kazakhstan's presidential press service.
• Gafarova and Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev were among the other participants, the Astana Times said.
• Addressing the meeting, Gafarova "spoke about Azerbaijan's ongoing efforts in digital technologies and modern innovations, as well as the results achieved by the country," the Milli Majlis told Report.az.
• The Aqaba Process is an international initiative launched by King Abdullah II in 2015 "to counter terrorism and violent extremism," bringing together heads of state, security service chiefs, military officials and international organisations, according to the Astana Times; this round was devoted to AI security.

Why it matters

The summit placed Azerbaijan, represented at parliamentary-speaker level, inside a security-focused regional conversation about artificial intelligence alongside Kazakhstan, Jordan and three other Central Asian states — a format distinct from the economic and infrastructure forums where Baku has mostly discussed AI so far. For the wider Caspian and Central Asian region, the meeting signals that AI misuse is now being folded into established counter-terrorism diplomacy rather than treated as a separate technology-policy track.

What it means for Azerbaijani institutions

The summit's security framing overlaps with a task already assigned under Azerbaijan's Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2025–2028. Under the presidential decree approving the strategy, "the State Service for Special Communication and Information Security of Azerbaijan will carry out analysis of information security risks in areas where AI is implemented within state bodies," and will "take the necessary measures to ensure the security of AI-related information in these institutions," according to Report.az. Neither Report.az nor the Astana Times published a text, declaration or follow-up commitment from the Astana summit, so Azerbaijani agencies have no new binding obligation to act on yet — only a diplomatic signal that AI-security cooperation with Central Asia and Jordan is being discussed at head-of-state level.