Azerbaijanis have always paid attention to their co-ethnics living beyond the borders of the republic.  However, until President Heydar Aliyev established the State Committee on Affairs with Azerbaijanis Living in Foreign Countries (SCAALFC) in July 2002, this longstanding attention to the Diaspora and the ways its members could help their motherland in general, lacked focus.  There were a number of non-governmental organizations involved before then, of course, but few had the funding or clout to make a difference, shortcomings that were highlighted at the I Azerbaijani Diaspo...

Like every other country, Azerbaijan has members of its ethnic community living abroad. But except for a very few, it has a far larger number of such people compared to its own population, and they vary more widely in their relationships to the countries in which they live and to Azerbaijan itself.  The enormous number of Azerbaijanis living beyond the borders of Azerbaijan makes them increasingly important players in international affairs; their diversity makes Baku’s dealings with them complicated and their various roles often misunderstood by others. The total numbe...

The Azerbaijani government is becoming ever more involved with Azerbaijanis living abroad, hoping to use them to influence other states.  Baku’s efforts in this direction are making the various members of this community more self-conscious of their identity if not yet a single united group.  And this new self-consciousness among Azerbaijanis abroad appears likely over time to have an influence on Azerbaijan itself, regardless of how much influence they may have on the countries in which they live. Given the importance of diasporas in general, it is not surprisi...