Foreign relations of Azerbaijan
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The Republic of Azerbaijan is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
, NATO's Partnership for Peace, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the World Health Organization, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...
; the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
,
CFE Treaty The original Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was negotiated and concluded during the last years of the Cold War and established comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe (from the Atla ...
, the Community of Democracies; the International Monetary Fund; and the World Bank. The major trends in the foreign relations of the Republic of Azerbaijan toward both global and regional powers active in Caucasus area. External variables are categorized depending on their original nature into two groups: global and regional. The former category includes global players such as Moscow and Washington, while the latter category rival regional players, namely Ankara and Tehran. Azerbaijan has formal involvement with senior ex-U.S. government officials including James Baker and Henry Kissinger, as they serve on the Honorary Council of Advisors of the
U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce The United States – Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) is a not-for-profit lobbying group aiming to develop long-term business ties between the firms in the United States and Azerbaijan and attract US investment to Azerbaijan. Mission T ...
(USACC). USACC is co-chaired by Tim Cejka, President of
ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
and Reza Vaziri, President of R.V. Investment Group and Chairman of the Anglo Asian Mining Plc (LSE Ticker
AAZ
.


Diplomatic relations

As of 2022, Azerbaijan maintains diplomatic relations with 183 United Nations member states, the
State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...
and the Holy See. Azerbaijan does not have diplomatic relations with the following countries: * Armenia * Botswana * Central African Republic * Cyprus *
Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
* Kiribati * Federated States of Micronesia * Papua New Guinea * Tonga Azerbaijan also maintains good relations with the European Union, in the framework of its Eastern European Neighbourhood Policy (''See
Azerbaijan and the European Union 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 ...
'').


List

List of countries with which Azerbaijan maintains diplomatic relations with:


Information on some of the countries with which Azerbaijan maintains formal relations


Multilateral


Africa


Americas


Asia


Europe


Oceania


International organizations

AsDB The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...
BSEC CE
CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...
EAPC EBRD ECE ECO ESCAP FAO GUAM
IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
IBRD The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...
ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
ICRM
IDA Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
IDB
IFAD The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD; french: link=no, Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address ...
IFC
IFRCS The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disast ...
ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...
IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
IMO IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltooligos ...
Interpol
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
, IOM ISO (correspondent)
ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
ITUC
OAS OAS or Oas may refer to: Chemistry * O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis Computers * Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards * OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification), ...
(observer) OIC OPCW OSCE PFP United Nations UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO
UPU Upu or Apu, also rendered as Aba/Apa/Apina/Ubi/Upi, was the region surrounding Damascus of the 1350 BC Amarna letters. Damascus was named ''Dimašqu'' / ''Dimasqu'' / etc. (for example, "Dimaški"-(see: Niya (kingdom)), in the letter correspon ...
WCO WFTU WHO WIPO
WMO The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Internat ...
WToO The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. UNWTO is the leading internati ...
WTrO The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
(observer)


Other entities

* Sovereign Military Order of Malta – there are no relations * States with limited recognition


Disputes


Nagorno-Karabakh/Azerbaijan

The frozen conflict over currently largely Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh within the Republic of Azerbaijan began when in 1988 the Armenian majority of Nagorno-Karabakh demanded autonomy with demonstrations and persecutions against ethnic Azeris following in Armenia. This led to anti-Armenian rioting in Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijani militias beginning their effort to expel Armenians from the enclave. In 1992, a war broke out and pogroms of Armenians and Azeris forced both groups to flee their homes. In 1994, a Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the war but more than 1 million ethnic Armenians and Azeris are still not able to return home. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh remains unresolved despite negotiations, that are ongoing since 1992 under the aegis of the Minsk Group of the OSCE, to resolve the conflict peacefully.


Caviar diplomacy

The
European Stability Initiative The European Stability Initiative (ESI) is a think tank focusing on South East Europe and enlargement of the European Union. It has offices in Berlin, Brussels and Istanbul. History The ESI was founded in June 1999 in Sarajevo. Its founders, multi- ...
(ESI) has revealed in a report from 2012 with the title "
Caviar diplomacy Caviar diplomacy is a lobbying strategy of Azerbaijan, consisting of costly invitations to foreign politicians and employees of international organizations to Azerbaijan at the expense of the host country. Caviar diplomacy also includes expensive ...
: How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe", that since Azerbaijan's entry into the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
, each year 30 to 40 deputies are invited to Azerbaijan and generously paid with expensive gifts, including caviar (worth up to 1,400 euro), silk carpets, gold, silver and large amounts of money. In return they become lobbyists for Azerbaijan. This practice has been widely referred to as "Caviar diplomacy".Europe's caviar diplomacy with Azerbaijan must end
EUobserver. Retrieved 6 April 2014
ESI also published a report on 2013 Presidential elections in Azerbaijan titled "Disgraced: Azerbaijan and the end of election monitoring as we know it". The report revealed the ties between Azerbaijani government and the members of certain observation missions who praised the elections. Azerbaijan's "Caviar diplomacy" at 2013 presidential elections sparked a major international scandal, as the reports of two authoritative organizations Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe/ European Parliament and OSCE/ODIHR completely contradicted one another in their assessments of elections.''Plush hotels and caviar diplomacy: how Azerbaijan's elite wooed MPs''
The Guardian 24 November 2013
Non-governmental anti-corruption organization Transparency International has regularly judged Azerbaijan to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world and has also criticized Azerbaijan for the "Caviar diplomacy". At June 2016 the public prosecutor of Milan has accused the former leader of the (Christian) Union of the center and of the European People's Party of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Luca Volonte of accepting large bribes from representatives of the Azerbaijani government. Two people with high-level experience of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly (Pace) have told the Guardian they believe its members have been offered bribes for votes by Azerbaijan. Former Azerbaijani diplomat, Arif Mammadov, alleged that a member of Azerbaijan's delegation at the Council of Europe had €30m (£25m) to spend on lobbying its institutions, including the Council of Europe assembly. PACE ratified the terms of reference of an independent external investigation body to carry out a detailed independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption at the council involving Azerbaijan.


ESISC report

On 6 March 2017, ESISC (European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center) published a scandalous report called "The Armenian Connection" where it veraciously attacked human rights NGOs and research organisations criticising human rights violations and corruption in Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia.AN EXPLORATION INTO AZERBAIJAN’S SOPHISTICATED SYSTEM OF PROJECTING ITS INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE, BUYING WESTERN POLITICIANS AND CAPTURING INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
// Freedom Files Analytical Centre (Civic Solidarity Platform), March 2017
ESISC in that report asserted that "Caviar diplomacy" report elaborated by ESI aimed to create climate of suspicion based on slander to form a network of MPs that would engage in a political war against Azerbaijan. In the Second Chapter of the report called "The Armenian Connection: «Mr X», Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights" that was published on 18 April 2017 ESISC asserted that the network composed of European PMs, Armenian officials and some NGOs: Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, "Human Rights House Foundation", "Open Dialog",
European Stability Initiative The European Stability Initiative (ESI) is a think tank focusing on South East Europe and enlargement of the European Union. It has offices in Berlin, Brussels and Istanbul. History The ESI was founded in June 1999 in Sarajevo. Its founders, multi- ...
, and
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights The Helsinki Committees for Human Rights exist in many European countries (the OSCE region) as volunteer, non-profit organizations devoted to human rights and presumably named after the Helsinki Accords. Formerly organized into the International ...
, was financed by the Soros Foundation. According to ESISC the key figure of the network since 2012 has been Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe and the network has served to the interests of George Soros and the Republic of Armenia. "The report is written in the worst traditions of authoritarian propaganda, makes absurd claims, and is clearly aimed at deflecting the wave of criticism against cover-up of unethical lobbying and corruption in PACE and demands for change in the Assembly", said Freedom Files Analytical Centre. According Robert Coalson (Radio Free Europe), ESISC is a part of Baku's lobbying efforts to extend to the use of front think tanks to shift public opinion. European Stability Initiative said that "ESISC report is full of lies (such as claiming that German PACE member Strasser holds pro-Armenian views and citing as evidence that he went to Yerevan in 2015 to commemorate the Armenian genocide, when Strasser has never in his life been to independent Armenia)".Merchants of Doubt or investigating Corruption
// ESI, 21 April 2017


See also

*
Azerbaijan and the European Union 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 ...
* Azerbaijan and the International Monetary Fund *
List of diplomatic missions in Azerbaijan This is a list of diplomatic missions in Azerbaijan. At present, the capital city of Baku hosts over 60 embassies. Diplomatic missions in Baku Embassies * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...
*
List of diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan The first Azerbaijani diplomatic body, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was established in 1918 when Azerbaijan became a republic and Mammad Hasan Hajinski was appointed the first Foreign Affairs minister. The parliament sent a diplomatic delegati ...
*
Visa requirements for Azerbaijani citizens Visa requirements for Azerbaijani citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Azerbaijan. As of 13 April 2021, Azerbaijani citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 67 countri ...


Further reading

* Valiyev, Anar: "Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus: A Pragmatic Relationship" in th
Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 27
* Hübner, Gerald: "Foreign Direct Investment in Azerbaijan—the Quality of Quantity" in th
Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 28
* Abbasov, Shahin: "Azerbaijan's Eurovision Story: Great Chances to Improve, But No Political Will" in th
Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 32
*Mazziotti, Marius; Sauerborn, Djan; Scianna, Bastian Matteo: "Multipolarity is key: Assessing Azerbaijan's foreign polic


References

*
CIA World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...
2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website


External links


U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan in Baku

Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Washington


{{Foreign relations of Europe