human rights council

Description

Azerbaijanan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest. Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage, including the distinction of being the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan is a unitary constitutional republic. It is one of the six independent Turkic states as well as an active member of the Turkic Council. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations. It is one of the founding members of GUAM, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. A member of the United Nations since 1992, Azerbaijan was elected to membership in the newly established Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly on May 9, 2006. The country is also a member of the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. Azerbaijan is a correspondent at the International Telecommunication Union and member of the Non-Aligned Movement and holds observer status in World Trade Organization. The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an official religion, and all major political forces in the country are secular nationalist, but the majority of people and some opposition movements adhere to Shia Islam. On 1 January 2012, the country started a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Азербайджан, полная официальная форма — Азербайджа́нская Респу́блика (азерб. Azərbaycan Respublikası) — государство в Евразии, в восточной части Закавказья, на юго-западном побережье Каспийского моря. Население на 2012 год составляло 9 493 600 человек, территория — 86 600 км². Азербайджан — самая большая страна Закавказского региона. Граничит с Россией (Дагестан) и Грузией (Квемо-Картли и Кахети) на севере, Арменией на западе и Ираном на юге. Нахичеванская Автономная Республика — эксклав Азербайджана — граничит с Арменией на северо-востоке, Ираном на юго-западе, Турцией на северо-западе. Часть территории Азербайджана контролируется непризнанной Нагорно-Карабахской Республикой, часть — Арменией (эксклавы Кярки, Бархударлы, Верхняя Аскипара). Азербайджан, в свою очередь, контролирует часть территории Армении (эксклав Арцвашен). Столица страны — город Баку. В 1918 году в течение нескольких месяцев столицей являлся Елизаветполь (Гянджа). Азербайджанскую Демократическую Республику, провозглашённую в 1918 году, называют первой демократической республикой в мусульманском мире.