Formed March 24, 1992 | ||
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Headquarters Baku, Azerbaijan Republic Agency executives Bayram Safarov, Leader of Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh
Nizami Bahmanov (deceased), co-founder
Havva Mammadova, co-founder, Member of Azerbaijani Parliament
Elman Mammadov, co-founder, Member of Azerbaijani Parliament | ||
The Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijani: Dağlıq Qarabağın Azərbaycanlı İcması), also known as the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh Social Union and the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh in exile, is a social union representing the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno (Upper) Karabakh, in exile since May 1994.
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History
Its first elected leader was Nizami Bahmanov who was appointed the Head of Executive Power of Shusha on April 8, 1992. Since Shusha was the only city in Nagorno-Karabakh with a majority Azerbaijani population, its executive officer was chosen to represent the whole Azerbaijani community of Karabakh. Bahmanov subsequently represented the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh region in peace talks held by the OSCE Minsk Group.
The status of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh Social Union, co-founded by Nizami Bahmanov, member of Azerbaijani Parliament, Havva Mammadova and Elman Mammadov, was formally confirmed by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan in September 2006.
Bahmanov died on September 13, 2008 while holding a meeting in his office. The office of the leader of Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh remained unoccupied until February 27, 2009 when Bayram Safarov was appointed the Head of Executive Power of Shusha, subsequently filling the office of leader of Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh. The name of the organization was changed to Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh Social Union on June 5, 2010.
Structure
The union is a non-governmental organization, gaining no financial profit and based on volunteer membership. Its activities cover the whole territory of Azerbaijan Republic. The union's main purpose is the restoration of the territorial integrity of the Azerbaijan Republic and the return of Azerbaijani IDPs from Karabakh to their homes.
The organization therefore encourages more activities among the internally displaced population from Karabakh within the framework of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict; promotes education on the history and culture of Karabakh region; learns and offers solutions to problems of the community; stimulates education of members of the community abroad; promotes sports within the community; disseminates information about the willingness of the Azerbaijani community of Karabakh for peaceful resolution and the subsequent return of ethnic Azerbaijanis to Karabakh to the international community; and disseminates truth about the Karabakh conflict abroad.