Elmar Mammadyarov


Elmar Mammadyarov Maharram oglu is an Azerbaijani diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan between 7 April 2004 and 16 July 2020. Mammadyarov speaks Russian, English, Azerbaijani, and Turkish.

Early life

Mammadyarov was born in Baku, Soviet Union on July 2, 1960. His father, Maharram Mammadyarov, was born in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. He studied at the School of International Relations and International Law of the Kiev State University 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.

Political career

Mammadyarov started his diplomatic career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijani SSR in 1982. He served there as second and first secretary until 1988. In 1991-1992 he was the Director of the State Protocol Division. In 1992-1995, Mammadyarov worked in the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in New York. Upon completion of his duties he returned to Baku and in 1995-1998 was the deputy director of the Department of International Organizations in the Ministry. In 1998-2003 he served as counselor at the Embassy of Azerbaijan to the United States. In 2003 Mammadyarov was appointed as Ambassador to Italy. Since April 2, 2004 he is Minister of Foreign Affairs. On July 9, 2019 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order to award him with Order for service to the Fatherland of the first degree.

Dismissal

He was dismissed in July 2020 after President Aliyev criticized his lack of aggressiveness in responding to the Armenian–Azerbaijani skirmishes. On 16 July, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev conducted an online meeting 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 is at work, I am at work until the morning, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff, as well as the Chief of the State Security Service, the Minister of Internal Affairs, 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 Foreign Minister's whereabouts, to which Prime Minister Ali Asadov replied that Mammadyarov was "working from home". Mammadyarov was dismissed from his position a few hours later. Jeyhun Bayramov was appointed as his successor.

Political activity

Since he was appointed as foreign minister, Mammadyarov involved in multiple political activities. During his position, Azerbaijan took over Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers from Austria 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 National Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan for UNESCO.