The America Times was re-born on September 11, 2021, with the goal to better inform our leaders and policymakers of nuances, beyond conventional wisdom, to successfully address present day “Gordion Knots,” sometimes as Alexander the Great did by cutting it and other times by tediously unraveling it. During January 2022, diplomacy is at a fever pitch in Washington D.C., Moscow, Kyiv, Vienna, Geneva and Brussels, as a 100,000 Russian troops are keeping Ukraine’s borders “warm” in the Russian Winter. And, starting January 1st, five days before our one-year anniversary of our January 6th, Kazakhstan experienced peaceful protects, taken over by organized violent, radical, terrorist insurrection, and President Tokayev sought CSTO Peacekeepers to come and leave, restored law & order, and is now causing major reforms to secular democratic Kazakhstan. Given the CSTO success in Kazakhstan, we can hope – updating James A. Baker’s Dec 5, 1993 Op-Ed in LA Times – that NATO & CSTO can merge to achieve President Biden’s goal of a united, free and stable Europe.
We are honored and privileged to have H. E. Agshin Mehdiyev – a geopolitical and diplomatic star of Azerbaijan, including, having served as P.R. to the UN from 2006 to 2014, and twice presided over the UNSC as an elected member during 2012-2013, and has served as a non-resident bilateral ambassador to Cuba, Nicaragua, and Jamaica, and as P.R. of OIC – join the Honorary Board of Advisors & Columnists of The America Times in recognition of his excellence and record of contributions. Ambassador Mehdiyev’s life experiences and diplomatic service, including, as a brave Consul General of USSR, with then President Gorbachev and FM Shevardnadze, in Yemen during 1987 – 1991 – an episode reminiscent of Tom Hanks as Capitan Phillips and securing release of US troops from Cuba in Bridge of Spies – he secured the release of 27 Soviet Sailors from Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, helps him to better decipher the unshared motives of geopolitical leaders and unspoken goals of geopolitical events, which he will share from time to time on our pages. This will serve to form a more perfect nation, and world, and thereby enhance both regional and global peace and security.
Benjamin Franklin famously said in 1787: “It’s a republic madam, if you can keep it.” Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev’s contributions in The America Times will help us keep our Republic. Please enjoy his accomplishments, along with a few pictures – in various settings, including, in the UNSC, and with his colleagues as he is honored with the Diwali Power of One award at the United Nations Trusteeship Council, the Oscars of Diplomacy, in 2018.
Ranju Batra & Ravi Batra
Publishers
H.E. Agshin Mehdiyev
Agshin Mehdiyev (born 28 April 1949) is an Azerbaijani diplomat who has served as Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan since May 2014. Agshin Mehdiyev speaks Azerbaijani, Arabic, English, Russian and Turkish. He is married and has three children.
Early life :Agshin Mehdiyev was born in Baku, Azerbaijan on April 28, 1949. He graduated from Azerbaijan State University – Faculty on Oriental Studies – in 1971. Between 1969-1970, he studied at Cairo University. Later, from 1985 to 1987 he attended the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in Moscow, where he obtained his PhD in History of International Relations. Mr. Mehdiyev is Honorary Professor of Baku Eurasian University since 2007.
Political Career: Mr. Mehdiyev is a career diplomat and joined the diplomatic service in 1975. From 1971 to 1975 he worked at the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the Arab Republic of Egypt as an assistant to the Counselor for Economic Affairs. In the course of his career, he served as Chief of Information and Media Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan SSR (1975-1977).
He worked, inter alia, at different positions at the Embassy of the USSR in the Yemen Arab Republic (1977-1982) and also held various posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan SSR (1982-1985).
Mr. Mehdiyev also worked as Council-General at the Embassy of the USSR in the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen between 1987 and 1991 and received certificate of honor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of USSR for personal bravery and high professionalism during the release of the Soviet sailors captured by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. In 1991 he worked as Counselor, Head of Foreign Policy Group at the Embassy of the USSR in the Republic of Yemen. Following the independence of Azerbaijan, he was appointed as the first Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Yemen for the term 1991-1992.
From 1993 to 2001, he was the Head of the Europe, USA and Canada Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He was also the first Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe (2001-2006).
During his term, the Council of Europe adopted a number of resolutions and documents related to the aggression of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Agshin Mehdiyev served as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations from November 2006 to April 2014. During his term, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on “Situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan” and a number of other resolutions initiated by Azerbaijan. Concurrently, Azerbaijan was elected as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (2012-2013), twice assumed the presidency in the Security Council and successfully accomplished its term of office. During his tenure as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations, Agshin Mehdiyev was also non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Cuba (beginning February 2007), Nicaragua (beginning June 2008), Jamaica (beginning September 2008) and Venezuela (beginning October 2008). Between May 2014 and November 2015, he served as Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In December 2015 he was assigned as Permanent Observer of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the European Union.
On 13 June 2016, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, H.E. Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, assigned Agshin Mehdiyev as the Permanent Representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the United Nations in New York.
Mr. Mehdiyev is the author of the book “Azerbaijan in the Council of Europe” published in 2011, compiled the book “Azerbaijan in the United Nations Security Council 2012- 2013”, as well as author of extensive number of publications and studies on different matters including articles on international affairs and political studies.
For his distinguished service, Mr. Mehdiyev was awarded with 3rd degree Order for Merit to Fatherland in 2012, Honorary Employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan in 2011, a Medal on the occasion of the 9Qth Anniversary of Azerbaijan’s Diplomatic Service in 2009, Honorary Degree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in 1990, as well as a number of honorary diplomas and degrees. Additionally, in 2019, Ambassador Mehdiyev received a Medal on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Azerbaijan’s Diplomatic Service.