Elmar Maharram oghlu Mammadyarov ( az, Elmar Məhərrəm oğlu Məmmədyarov), born July 2, 1960) is an

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 ...

i diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan between 7 April 2004 and 16 July 2020. Mammadyarov speaks

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, Azerbaijani, and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

Early life

Mammadyarov was born in

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 ...

, then part of the

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 ...

, on July 2, 1960. His father, Maharram Mammadyarov, was born in

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic ( az, Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası, ), is a landlocked exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers Official portal of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicNakhchivan Autonomous Republic with a popula ...

. He studied at the School of International Relations and International Law of the

Kiev State University Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

in 1977-1982. He continued his education at the Diplomatic Academy of the MFA of USSR in 1988-1991 and obtained a PhD in History. In 1989-1990, Mammadyarov was appointed as exchange scholar at the Center for Foreign Policy Development of the

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Political career

Mammadyarov 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 1982. He served there as second and first secretary until 1988. During 1991 and 1992, he was the Director of the State Protocol Division. From 1992 to 1995, Mammadyarov worked in the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in New York. Upon completion of his duties he returned to Baku and from 1995 to 1998 he was the deputy director of the Department of International Organizations in the Ministry. From 1998 to 2003, he served as counselor at the Embassy of Azerbaijan to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2003, Mammadyarov was appointed as Ambassador to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. On 2 April 2004, he was appointed as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. On 9 July 2019, Azerbaijani President

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, ...

signed an order to award him with the Order for service to the Fatherland of the first degree.

Dismissal

He was dismissed in July 2020 after President

Aliyev Aliyev (sometimes spelled Aliev; az, Əliyev, kk, Áliyev, russian: Алиев), Aliyeva for females, is a surname originating from the Caucasus and Central Asia. The surname is derived from the Arabic male given name Ali and literally means ''Ali ...

criticized his lack of aggressiveness in responding to the Armenian–Azerbaijani skirmishes. On 16 July, Aliyev conducted an

online meeting Web conferencing is used as an umbrella term for various types of online conferencing and collaborative services including webinars (web seminars), webcasts, and web meetings. Sometimes it may be used also in the more narrow sense of the peer-le ...

of the Cabinet of Ministers, where he criticized the Foreign Ministry for being unable to find Mammadyarov in the early stages of the crisis. Stating that while "the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

is at work, I am at work until the morning, the

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, the Chief of

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

, as well as the Chief of the State Security Service, the

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, the Chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Secretary of the Security Council are at work until the early hours of the morning", Aliyev asked about the Foreign Minister's whereabouts, to which Prime Minister

Ali Asadov Ali Hidayat oghlu Asadov ( az, Əli Hidayət oğlu Əsədov; born 30 November 1956) is an Azerbaijani politician serving as the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan following his appointment to the post on 8 October 2019 by president Ilham Aliyev. Ea ...

replied that Mammadyarov was "working from home". Mammadyarov was dismissed from his position a few hours later.

Jeyhun Bayramov Jeyhun Aziz oglu Bayramov ( az, Ceyhun Əziz oğlu Bayramov) is an Azerbaijani politician who currently has served the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan since 2020. Bayramov previously served as the Minister of Education f ...

was appointed as his successor.

Political activity

During his tenure as foreign minister, Mammadyarov was involved in multiple political activities. Under his position, Azerbaijan took over Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

for six months in 2014. On June 23, he presented communication to PACE. In his overview, he stressed on combating corruption and manipulation of sports competitions. Elmar Mammadyarov is also chairperson of the National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan for UNESCO.

References

External links