Dr. Kamran Balayev, London.

A brief history of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is a country located between Iran and Russia making it an interesting geo-political location, between two different cultures in a very vulnerable region. Therefore, the areas around Azerbaijan have a lot of problems including separatism, religious fundamentalism and wars and Azerbaijan seems to be the only area of stability in the region, if it were not for the conflict with Armenia. To be a small country and to resist all of these contexts is a big challenge for Azerbaijan and means a lot to the country. Azerbaijan is probably the only country in the region that shares Western values and wants to cultivate and foster these European values in their society.

In the region that Azerbaijan is located, it is the only country to have free internet and social media which has never been banned, where both men and women are equal and there is a strong will to transform this small country into a strong European player. So it is important to take a deeper look into this small but interesting country.

Women’s rights in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan`s political and social progression has come to serve as a model for other countries in the region, pointing the way towards increased rights for all its citizens. In the 15th century Azerbaijan used to have a very prominent diplomat called Sara Khatum, long before most countries had women in such senior positions. Women`s rights in Azerbaijan show the country`s distinctly modern approach when compared to its neighbours and the innovative leadership of successive governments and groups has ensured continued progress to this end.Indeed, Azerbaijan was the first Muslim country to legally give women the right to vote. Universal suffrage was written into law in 1918, and female representation has increased in recent years in Azerbaijan’s Presidential and parliamentary administration. Future efforts for equality of women’s rights continue to be at the forefront of debate and women`s crisis centres have been established throughout the country, offering counsel to women in need. While such steps are being taken in Azerbaijan to improve the rights for women in the country, the same cannot be said of other countries in the region.

European Court of Human Rights

While in the region you have got countries that still practice “19th century law” Azerbaijan is a member of the Treaty of Human Rights and cooperates closely with the European Court of Human Rights. There is even a law that Azerbaijani judges should be precedents from cases in the European Court of Human Rights. Azerbaijan respects all decisions of the European Court and takes all measures to implement them in the country’s legal system. This means that the Azerbaijani legal system will be clearer for British and European lawyers.

Human resources

Azerbaijan is willing to bring more educated professionals in order to be competitive on a global scale. Here, we would love to bring some similarity with Singapore. Singapore was of no significance at one time but the leader of Singapore started to bring Western educated professionals from all over the world which changed the country significantly. The success of Singapore is defined by its human resources which is one of the most important points we need to focus on. The success of Singapore was due to the fact that they started bringing Singaporean nationals from all over the world and became one of the best locations for business on the map.

Without human resources and professional managers, it is not possible to sustain successful change. Even Dubai’s greatest success was its human resources. And, Azerbaijan is keen to foster this culture of having highly educated people in our government.

It is clear to understand that this is a very interesting and complicated country with good aims and potential to achieve the goals. Maybe in the next 10 years there will be another spot on the map which could easily compete or ever surpass Singapore or Dubai - a new destination for Europeans to travel and explore new areas on the globe.

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