1. POLITICS OF AZERBAIJAN
Benedict (Viktor) Gombocz

2. Geography of Azerbaijan
 Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the
Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia
 Area
 Total: 86,600 sq km
 Country comparison to the world: 113
 Land: 82,629 sq km
 Water: 3,971 sq km (note: includes the exclave of Naxcivan
Autonomous Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh region;
the Azerbaijani Supreme Court terminated that region’s
self-rule on 26 November 1991
 Area – comparative: Slightly smaller than
Maine
 Land boundaries:
 Total: 2,013 km
 Border countries: Armenia (with mainland Azerbaijan) 566
km, Armenia (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 221 km,
Georgia 322 km, Iran (with mainland Azerbaijan) 432 km,
Iran (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 179 km, Russia 284
km, Turkey 9 km
 Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) – note: Azerbaijan
borders the Caspian Sea (713 km)

3. Physical Map of Azerbaijan

4. Religion statistics
 Muslim 93.4%
 RussianOrthodox 2.5%
 ArmenianOrthodox 2.3%
 Other 1.8% (1995 est.)

5. Russian Orthodox Church in Goytepe

6. Azerbaijan’s political system:
Background
 The political system of Azerbaijan functions in a structure of a
presidential republic; the President of Azerbaijan is the head of state,
and the PM of Azerbaijan is the head of government.
 The government exercises executive power.
 Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.
 The Judiciary is for all purposes independent of both the executive and
the legislature.

7. Azerbaijan’s political system: Government of
Azerbaijan
 Capital (and largest city): Baku
 Official languages: Azerbaijani
 Demonym:Azerbaijani
 Government: Dominant-party
unitary presidential state
 President: Ilham Aliyev
 Prime Minister:Artur Rasizade
 Legislature: National Assembly

8. Azerbaijan’s political system:
Executive branch
Main office holders Explanation
 Office: President
 Name: IlhamAliyev
 Party: New Azerbaijan Party (NAP)
 Since: 15 October 2003
 Office: Prime Minister
 Name:Artur Rasizade
 Party: New Azerbaijan Party (NAP)
 Since: 15 October 2003
 The head of state and the head of government are
separate from the country’s law-making body.
 The president is the head of state and the head of
the executive branch.
 The president is elected by the people.
 The president appoints the PM, who is
subsequently confirmed by the NationalAssembly
ofAzerbaijan.
 The President nominates all cabinet-level
government administrators, including ministers
and heads of other important administrative
bodies.
 TheConstitution ofAzerbaijan was revised in 2008 ;
term limits for the office of President were
eradicated.

9. Azerbaijan’s political system:
Legislative branch
 The NationalAssembly ofAzerbaijan (Azerbaijani:
Milli Məclis) is Azerbaijan’s legislative branch of
government.
 The unicameral NationalAssembly is made up of
125 delegates: previously, 100 members were
elected for five-year terms in single-seat
constituencies while 25 were members elected by
proportional representation.
 However, from the most recent election, all 125
delegates are returned from single-member
constituencies.
 The Speaker of Milli Majlis, aided by the First
Deputy Speaker and two deputy speakers, leads
the assembly.
 The assembly’s current speaker is Ogtay Asadov;
the current First Deputy Speaker is Ziyafet
Asgarov; the current two deputy speakers are
Bahar Muradova and Valeh Alasgarov.

10. Azerbaijan’s political system: Major
parties
 NewAzerbaijan Party (Yeni Azərbaycan
Partiyası)
 National Revival Movement Party (Milli Dirçəliş
Hərəkatı Partiyası)
 Equality Party (Müsavat Partiyası)
 Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (Azərbaycan
XalqCəbhəsi Partiyası)
 Azerbaijan Democratic Party (Azərbaycan
Demokrat Partiyası)
 Motherland Party (AnaVatan)
 Civic Solidarity Party (Vətəndaş Həmrəyliyi
Partiyası)

11. Azerbaijan’s political system:
Political parties and elections
 Azerbaijan is categorized as a one-party governing state.
 Even though parties opposed to the New Azerbaijan party exist, they
are widely considered to lack a realistic chance of having power.

12. Azerbaijan’s political system:
Judicial branch
 AConstitutional Court, which is only
independent, leads the judicial branch.

13. Ilham Aliyev
 Born 24 December 1961 in Baku.
 Current President ofAzerbaijan; was elected in
2003.
 Briefly served as PM ofAzerbaijan from 4August
2003-4 November 2003.
 Also second and current Chairman of the New
Azerbaijan Party and head of the National Olympic
Committee.
 In addition to his native Azerbaijani, he speaks
English and Russian.
 Is the son of HeydarAliyev, President ofAzerbaijan
between 1993-2003.
 His tenure as president has been marked by
widespread cases of political corruption,
suppression, and human rights violations in
Azerbaijan and accusations of nepotism and the
concentration ofAzerbaijan’s wealth and resources
in his family’s hands.

14. Artur Rasizade
 Born 26 February 1935 in Ganja.
 Current PM of Azerbaijan, since 4 November 2003.
 Was a long-time member of the Azerbaijani
Communist Party during the Soviet period.
 Initially served as PM from 20 July 1996-4 August
2003, when he stepped down, allegedly due to
health concerns; then President Heydar Aliyev’s
son Ilham Aliyev took his place.
 However, Rasizade continued to act as PM for
Ilham Aliyev; he formally reassumed the post on 4
November 2003, following the former’s election as
president.
 Was awarded with Istiglal Order by Ilham Aliyev on
23 February 2005 for his involvement in economic
development of Azerbaijan.

15. Baku

16. The End (axır)