, image = File:Araz Azimov February 2016 (24932626176).jpg , order = , title = Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan , term_start = 1994 , predecessor = , president =

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...

(1994-2003),

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

(2003-present) , birth_date = , birth_place =

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(now

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

) , branch = , serviceyears = , rank = , battles = Araz Boyukagha oghlu Azimov ( az, Araz Böyükağa oğlu Əzimov, born on June 13, 1962,

), is the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the

Government of Azerbaijan The Politics of Azerbaijan takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic, with the President of Azerbaijan as the head of state, and the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan as head of government. Executive power is exercised by the preside ...

, a position he has held since 1994.

Early life

Azimov was born in

on June 13, 1962. Fromn 1978 to1984, he studied at the Oriental Studies faculty of Azerbaijan State University, now

Baku State University Baku State University (BSU) ( az, Bakı Dövlət Universiteti (BDU)) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established in 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and ...

, where he majored in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

language studies. After graduation, he was an announcer in the Foreign Service department of the Azerbaijan State Teleradio Company, where he served until 1989, during which time he was also a military translator in Afghanistan.

Political career

Azimov started his diplomatic career in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

of the

Azerbaijani SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

in 1989. He served there as a second and first secretary at the Department of Information until 1991. In 1991-1992, Azimov was deputy director at the same department. In 1992, he was appointed director of the Department of International Organizations in the Ministry. From 1994 until the present, he has been Deputy Foreign Minister in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan ( az, Azərbaycan Respublikasının Xarici İşlər Nazirliyi) is a Cabinet-level governmental agency in Azerbaijan Republic in charge of conducting and designing Azerbaijani Foreign policy. History The ...

. His diplomatic rank is

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

. He was awarded the

For service to the Fatherland Order For service to the Fatherland Order ( az, «Vətənə xidmətə görə» Ordeni) is an order of the Azerbaijan Republic. The order was established on November 7, 2003. Status "For service to the Fatherland" Order of Azerbaijan Republic awards a ...

(2nd class) of

by President

in July 2019.

Personal life

Araz Azimov is married and has one child. In addition to his native Azerbaijani, he speaks fluent English, Russian,

and Turkish.

Azimov attention in American media

Mr. Azimov received attention in the American media in 2011 in a Forbes magazine article. The article asserts that

Samir Sharifov Samir Rauf oghlu Sharifov ( az, Samir Rauf oğlu Şərifov; born 7 September 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician serving as the Minister of Finance of Azerbaijan Republic. Early life Sharifov was born on 7 September 1961. In 1983, he graduated ...

and

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

were engaging in political activity that could "push the region toward war." Mr. Azimov is quoted in the article as saying that Soros' involvement with Sharifov might push the region toward war: “Armenia is interested in war, more so than Azerbaijan. They want to gain further justification of the occupation in Karabakh, so they would be looking for an opportunity to provoke. So war is a possibility but it will only start with a provocation."Richard Minite

''Forbes'' magazine, September 9, 2011

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azimov, Araz Living people Diplomats from Baku 1962 births Baku State University alumni