Azerbaijan took important steps in the field of diaspora building after restoring its independence and gained achievements.

Diaspora building in Azerbaijan and the organization of World Azerbaijanis is linked with the name of National leader Heydar Aliyev.

On December 16, 1991, on the initiative of Heydar Aliyev, it was decided to mark December 31 as the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis every year. This event, which is important from the political-ideological point of view, is also significant from the point of view of promoting the ideology of Azerbaijanism and ensuring national unity.

National leader Heydar Aliyev's decree "On the holding of the First Congress of World Azerbaijanis" dated May 23, 2001 laid the foundation for the construction of the national diaspora. According to the mentioned decree, the first congress of world Azerbaijanis was held in Baku on November 9-10 of the same year.

Members of the Coordinating Council of World Azerbaijanis were determined at the congress. Namely, this congress became a turning point in terms of the organization of compatriots abroad, closely united around the idea of Azerbaijaniism. 406 representatives and 63 guests participated in the First Congress of World Azerbaijanis, representing more than 200 different organizations of compatriots living in 36 foreign countries.

Today, the diaspora policy, which was founded by the National leader, is continued by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev, who took into account the importance of forming a strong diaspora in foreign countries, as well as further improving the organization's activities, signed a decree on November 19, 2008 "On the establishment of the State Committee for Work with the Diaspora" for the implementation of lobbying. By this, a complete legal framework was created.

One of the steps to support the diaspora building is the establishment of the "Support to the Azerbaijan Diaspora" Fund by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev dated July 6, 2018.

This Fund created an opportunity to do more organized and sustainable work in the field of diaspora policy. The main problems in the organization of Azerbaijanis abroad have been eliminated, and serious work has been done to ensure that the Azerbaijani diaspora organizations can unite on a single front.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation also has a special place in lobbying and the formation of national solidarity. The president of the foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, provides exceptional service in promoting the rich culture and art of Azerbaijan in the world. At the same time, the fund carries out numerous events in different countries of the world, especially on the eve of the Khojaly genocide, and provides diaspora organizations with all the means to serve this purpose.

Within the framework of the Foundation's campaign under the name "Justice for Khojaly", the fact that millions of Azerbaijanis voted in a short period of time for the petitions created for the purpose of appealing to the states over the Internet is a message to the world about our unity and solidarity.

The strength of the Azerbaijani diaspora and the solidarity of the nation showed itself during the 44-day Patriotic War.

During the war, the diaspora played a great role in communicating the war crimes of Armenia, which fired missiles and heavy artillery at Ganja, Barda, Tartar and other Azerbaijani cities, and carried out targeted attacks against civilians, to the world community.

The concept of diaspora is becoming an important element of international relations. The realities of the globalized world pose new challenges in the field of diaspora building. The rapid integration processes between peoples, the increasing role of diaspora organizations in international politics make it a historical necessity to carry out larger-scale activities in this area. For this reason, diaspora building is organized and developed at a high level in Azerbaijan.

Analytic group of News.Az

The article focuses on diaspora building, lobbying and Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis

The article was published with the support of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (MEDIA)