Category: Azer News

Master’s thesis defenses have been held for students specializing in Sports Law and Tourism Law within the Law program at the Faculty of Law of Baku State University (BSU), AzerNEWS reports citing the Azerbaijan Bar Association.

The defense session was chaired by Anar Baghirov, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Bar Association and Doctor of Philosophy in Law.

Anar Baghirov noted in his remarks that, in recent years, cooperation memorandums have been signed with Baku State University and other higher education institutions across the country that have law faculties.

Within the framework of these partnerships, a number of successful initiatives have been implemented to strengthen students’ professional training, organize internship programs, hold joint events, and increase young lawyers’ interest in pursuing the legal profession.

The session, attended by prominent legal scholars, professors, academic staff, and members of the Master’s Dissertation Council, featured the defense of three master’s theses. Following the discussions, all dissertations received high evaluations, and the students successfully completed the defense process.

In recognition of his support for the Faculty of Law at Baku State University and legal education, Anar Baghirov was awarded the Honorary Diploma of the Faculty of Law on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

It is worth noting that Anar Baghirov, Doctor of Philosophy in Law and Chairman of the Azerbaijan Bar Association, also heads the Master’s Dissertation Councils of the Faculties of Law at Baku State University and the Academy of the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee.

England striker Harry Kane has reached a new career milestone, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for the most goals scored in a single season for club and country, AzerNEWS reports.

Kane found the net in England’s Group C third-round match against Panama, taking his tally to 70 goals across all competitions this season for both club and national team.

The 31-year-old’s achievement eclipses Ronaldo’s previous record of 69 goals, which the Portuguese star set during the 2011/12 season.

England secured a 2-0 victory over Panama in the match, which was played at New York/New Jersey Stadium, with Kane’s goal helping the Three Lions finish the group stage on a winning note.

Harry Kane has established himself as one of the most prolific strikers of his generation. After becoming Tottenham Hotspur’s all-time leading scorer, he joined Bayern Munich in 2023, where he has continued his remarkable goalscoring form. Kane has won consecutive Bundesliga titles with the German club and finished as the league’s top scorer in each of his first two seasons.

As captain of the England national football team, Kane is also his country’s all-time leading goalscorer and has now become England’s top scorer in FIFA World Cup history.

As part of the “Great Return” State Program, 12 preschool institutions and 25 general education schools operated in the liberated territories during the 2025/2026 academic year, representing another important milestone in restoring community life and supporting the region’s development, AzerNEWS reports.

Figures provided by the Ministry of Science and Education indicate, that during this period, 408 children and 123 employees were involved in preschool education institutions, while 4,825 students and 700 staff members participated in the educational process at general education schools.

Another significant milestone has been the development of Karabakh University in Khankandi. Since beginning its operations, the university has played an important role in the region’s academic and social development, standing out for its student-centered environment. Currently, students studying at the university benefit from fully free education and accommodation in dormitories, while additional scholarships are available for high-achieving students.

One of the key events of the academic year was the opening of the Faculty of Business and Economics, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the Karabakh University Clinic, with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev. At the same time, the foundation stone was laid for a new building of the Faculty of Engineering, which is planned to begin operating in a fully modern facility from the next academic year.

The ongoing expansion of educational institutions in Karabakh reflects a broader vision of renewal, development, and the creation of a modern learning environment for future generations.

The Great Return Program represents one of Azerbaijan’s largest national development initiatives, aimed at restoring life in the liberated territories and supporting the return of residents to their ancestral lands..

The program focuses on rebuilding infrastructure, restoring residential areas, creating modern educational and healthcare facilities, developing economic opportunities, and supporting the return of former internally displaced persons to their homes.

It also includes the implementation of modern urban development projects, including the concepts of smart cities and smart villages, designed to create sustainable and comfortable living conditions.

Through these efforts, Karabakh is gradually transforming into a region of sustainable growth, innovation, and new opportunities.

The contemporary geopolitical landscape of Eurasia is increasingly defined by intense competition among global superpowers. Positioned as the vital terrestrial bridge between East and West, the strategic corridor stretching across Central Asia and the South Caucasus has long found itself at the crossroads of competing external architectures. From China’s expansive Belt and Road Initiative to Russia’s historic economic frameworks and Western alternative trade routes, the region faces constant systemic gravitational pulls. In this environment of intersecting ambitions, the true imperative for regional states is the preservation of strategic autonomy. The entry into force of the Turkic Investment Fund (TIF) represents a historic pivot in this regard-shifting the Turkic world from a state of navigating external dependency to actively engineering a sovereign economic shield.

Historically, the cohesion of the Turkic states-ranging from Azerbaijan and Turkey to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan-has been rooted primarily in shared cultural heritage, linguistics, and high-level diplomatic alignment through the Organization of Turkic States. While these cultural and political pillars have built robust institutional trust, the modern geopolitical arena demands tangible material frameworks to withstand external economic pressures. By transitioning into an operational, dedicated financial institution with an initial capital of $600 million, the TIF provides the essential material engine required to convert diplomatic solidarity into an unassailable economic bloc.

The primary strategic value of the Turkic Investment Fund lies in its capacity to independently capitalize critical intra-regional infrastructure. For decades, infrastructure development in developing Eurasian economies relied heavily on foreign multi-lateral lenders or bilateral loans from dominant economic powers. While these external investments facilitated physical development, they occasionally introduced asymmetric leverage and long-term economic vulnerabilities. By establishing an autonomous intra-regional financing mechanism, the TIF allows Turkic nations to set their own developmental priorities according to their sovereign national interests, completely free from external conditionalities.

This financial independence is especially critical for the development of the Middle Corridor-the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. As global trade seeks alternatives to volatile maritime paths and congested northern routes, the Middle Corridor offers the most secure, efficient, and direct logistical link between European and Asian markets. However, realizing the full potential of this corridor requires deep infrastructural integration across multiple borders, including modernized port facilities along the Caspian Sea, expanded rail networks, and streamlined digital customs systems. The TIF is uniquely positioned to act as the primary institutional catalyst for these multi-border projects, seamlessly blending public mandate with private capital to transform Eurasia’s transport geography.

Beyond massive logistical corridors, the fund plays an indispensable role in strengthening the internal economic resilience of its member nations. Global supply shocks and changing financial conditions have demonstrated that true sovereignty requires a high degree of economic diversification. The TIF’s strategic focus on empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), building modern agricultural supply chains, and funding digital transformation serves as a foundational defense against external shocks. When local industries are robust and interconnected across the Turkic world, the entire region becomes less vulnerable to global economic downturns or targeted trade disruptions.

Furthermore, this financial cooperation fosters a highly integrated regional market. By facilitating intra-regional trade and joint industrial ventures, the fund ensures that capital remains within the Turkic ecosystem, compounding its value over time. For instance, combining Azerbaijan’s strategic logistics and energy capabilities with Turkey’s industrial experience, Azerbaijan’s and Central Asia’s vast natural resources creates a highly complementary economic zone. This internal synergy ensures that the region ceases to be a passive arena for external exploitation and instead emerges as an active, self-sustaining pole of economic power.

Ultimately, the institutionalization of the Turkic Investment Fund represents a sophisticated blueprint for medium-power diplomacy in the 21st century. It proves that regional integration does not require alignment with a single global superpower. Instead, by pooling resources, sharing risks, and aligning long-term strategic visions, the Turkic states are demonstrating that collective self-reliance is the most effective path toward long-term stability.

As the fund moves forward with its initial portfolio of projects, the underlying behind-the-scenes momentum reflects a deeper, irreversible historical trend. The Turkic Investment Fund is more than a financial platform; it is a declaration of economic sovereignty. By building an independent financial architecture, the Turkic world is successfully insulating its future from the pressures of global power rivalries, ensuring that the development of Eurasia is guided solely by the collective will and shared destiny of its own nations.

The Azerbaijan National Hydrometeorology Service has weather forecast for June 29, AzerNEWS reports.

The weather in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula is expected to be partly cloudy and intermittently overcast, with mostly dry conditions. However, brief light rain is possible in some areas in the morning. A southwesterly wind will be replaced by a moderate northwesterly wind in the morning.

Air temperature is expected to be 17-20°C at night and 23-28°C during the day. Atmospheric pressure will be 761 mm mercury, and relative humidity will be 55-65% at night.

In most regions of Azerbaijan, mainly dry weather is expected, although occasional rain is forecast in some mountainous and foothill areas during the day. In some places, short-term heavy rain, thunderstorms, and hail are possible. Fog is expected in some mountainous areas during the night and morning. A westerly wind will blow.

Temperatures across the regions are expected to be 16-20°C at night and 27-32°C during the day, while in mountainous areas they will be 8-13°C at night and 16-21°C during the day, reaching up to 25-28°C in some places.

Members of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis are set to pay an official visit to Kyiv on June 29 to discuss the further development of interparliamentary cooperation with Ukraine, AzerNEWS reports.

The head of the parliamentary working group on Azerbaijan-Ukraine interparliamentary relations, Alibala Maharramzade, and group member Erkin Gadirli will take part in the visit.

The delegation will travel to the Ukrainian capital at the invitation of Volodymyr Kreidenko, co-chair of the Verkhovna Rada’s parliamentary group on interparliamentary relations with Azerbaijan.

During the visit, the Azerbaijani lawmakers are scheduled to hold a series of meetings, during which the sides will exchange views on expanding and strengthening interparliamentary cooperation between Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are preparing to significantly modernize their international transport administration by fully transitioning from paper-based permits to a digital system. The move is expected to streamline procedures and further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the field of freight transportation.

Starting from next year, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will completely abandon paper-based permits, switching exclusively to the exchange and issuance of electronic permit forms, AzerNEWS reports.

This agreement was reached in Baku during the latest meeting of the Mixed Commission on international road transport between the Azerbaijan Road Transport Agency (AYNA) and the Committee for Automobile Transport and Transport Control of Kazakhstan.

This decision was made taking into account the successful implementation and positive results of the e-permit system currently in use.

It was noted that the full digitalization of the exchange and issuance process for permit forms will not only minimize administrative and operational difficulties but will also significantly contribute to making international transport procedures more transparent, faster, and more efficient.

The meeting, which also included representatives of the State Customs Committee, the Azerbaijan International Road Carriers Association, and national carriers, discussed the current state and development prospects of international road freight transport between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

The sides expressed satisfaction with the growing volume of cargo transportation in recent years, as well as the important role both countries play in international and transit transport systems.

It was also decided to additionally exchange 6,000 electronic permits for the current year, with 2,000 allocated for each category: bilateral, transit, and third-country/from third-country transport. In addition, the initial quota for 2027 was set at a total of 28,000 permits, including 12,000 for bilateral transport, 8,000 for transit transport, and 8,000 for third-country/from third-country transport.

As a result, the total quota of mutually exchanged permits for international freight transport between the two countries has increased by 12,000 units compared to the previous period.

The parties expressed confidence that the demand of carriers for permits will be fully met in both the current and upcoming years.

Note that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have developed a stable and long-term partnership in the field of international road transport and logistics over many years. The two countries cooperate closely within bilateral agreements on freight transportation and are active participants in regional transit initiatives aimed at improving connectivity across Eurasia.

A key element of this cooperation is their joint role in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor), which serves as a strategic corridor linking China, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea region, the South Caucasus, and Europe. This route has become increasingly important in recent years due to shifting global supply chains and rising demand for alternative East-West transport corridors.

In addition to transit cooperation, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan regularly exchange quotas for international road transport permits, ensuring smooth freight movement between the two countries and through their territories. Both sides have also been gradually implementing digital solutions in transport administration, including electronic permit systems, to improve efficiency, transparency, and speed in logistics operations.

June 28 marks the 189th birth anniversary of Hasan bey Zardabi, one of Azerbaijan’s most influential intellectuals and the pioneering founder of the country’s national press, AzerNEWS reports.

A visionary educator, scientist, and public figure, Zardabi dedicated his life to promoting education, enlightenment, and social progress.

Through his groundbreaking journalistic work, he laid the foundations of modern Azerbaijani media, using the press as a powerful tool to raise public awareness, encourage critical thinking, and strengthen national identity.

Although 189 years have passed since his birth, Hasan bey Zardabi continues to be remembered with great respect.

Hasan bey Zardabi was born on June 28, 1837, in the village of Zardab, then part of the Goychay district. He received his early education at a traditional religious school before completing his secondary education in Tbilisi. He later graduated from Moscow University, specializing in the natural sciences.

In 1869, Zardabi began teaching natural sciences at a Russian-language secondary school in Baku. Four years later, in 1873, together with Najaf bey Vazirov and Asgar agha Adigozalov, he staged Mirza Fatali Akhundzade’s comedies “Haji Gara” and “The Vizier of the Lankaran Khan”, making a significant contribution to the emergence of Azerbaijan’s national theater.

He also played a key role in the establishment of the first school for Azerbaijani girls in Baku, which opened in 1901.

On July 22, 1875, Zardabi founded “Akinchi”, Azerbaijan’s first national newspaper. Although the publication had a short lifespan and ceased publication on September 29, 1877, it laid the foundation for the country’s independent national press.

During the 1880s and 1890s, he published numerous popular science articles in Azerbaijani and Russian in newspapers such as Ziya, Kashkul, Kaspi, Novoye Obozreniye, and other periodicals.

In the final years of his life, he served in the Education Department of the Baku City Duma, continuing his lifelong commitment to public education and enlightenment.

Hasan bey Zardabi passed away on November 28, 1907. He was initially buried near the old Bibi-Heybat Mosque, and in 1957, his remains were reinterred in the Alley of Honor in Baku, where he is commemorated as one of Azerbaijan’s most influential intellectuals and nation-builders.

Mountain tourism has become an increasingly important direction in Azerbaijan’s tourism development, with visitors showing growing interest in nature-based travel, outdoor activities, and active recreation.

The country’s mountainous regions, known for their landscapes and climate, are creating new opportunities for year-round tourism.

Among these destinations, the Shahdag Tourism Center has established itself as one of Azerbaijan’s leading mountain resorts. Located in the Greater Caucasus region, Shahdag was developed as a modern tourism destination offering a wide range of services for visitors in every season.

Initially recognized for winter sports, the center has expanded its activities in recent years to become a year-round destination with opportunities for recreation, entertainment, and nature tourism.

The Shahdag Tourism Center, operating under the Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency, has officially launched its 2026 summer season, offering new experiences for local and international visitors.

Throughout the summer, the center will welcome tourists seeking active holidays, family recreation, and outdoor adventures. A variety of sports events and activities are also planned as part of efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage greater interest in mountain tourism.

The launch of the new season comes at a time when demand for mountain and eco-tourism continues to grow. Shahdag has been working to diversify its summer tourism offerings, attract more visitors to the region, and highlight the potential of Azerbaijan’s mountain areas.

As part of its all-season tourism strategy, Shahdag has significantly expanded its infrastructure. The center now operates 16 cable car lines, while the number of summer entertainment options and attractions available in open and indoor areas has reached 35.

Guests can also benefit from 30 dining facilities and the newly opened 124-room Lakeside Hotel.

Further development projects are also underway. Within the framework of the Phase V program, construction continues on a new 2,800-meter-long cable car line, alongside plans to introduce additional entertainment and tourism facilities.

The combination of untouched landscapes, improved infrastructure, and diverse visitor experiences is turning the region into a destination where travelers can discover the beauty of the mountains at any time of the year.

Actual student admissions at the undergraduate level of higher education institutions have demonstrated a steady growth trend in recent years, AzerNEWS reports citing the Azerbaijan Ministry of Science and Education.

Over the past four years, undergraduate admissions have increased by 18 percent.

In the 2025/2026 academic year, 60,860 students were admitted to higher education institutions out of 61,420 available undergraduate places.

This means that 98.4 percent of the allocated places were filled. Among the admitted students, 28,421 gained the right to study under state-funded programs.

Admission figures at the master’s level have also increased in recent years. The actual number of admitted students rose from 10,484 in the 2021/2022 academic year to 14,335 in the 2025/2026 academic year, representing a 29.4 percent increase.

In the current academic year, 14,335 students were admitted to master’s programs out of 17,860 available places, meaning that 76 percent of the allocated places were filled. Of those admitted, 6,674 students (37.4 percent) gained the right to study under state-funded programs.