Nizami Bahmanov - Political Career

Political Career

On March 24, 1992 he was recognized as an interested party from the Azerbaijani side of Karabakh by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On April 8, 1992 Bahmanov was appointed the Head of Executive Power of Shusha. Since Shusha was the city with majority Azerbaijani population, its executive officer was chosen to represent the whole Azerbaijani community of Karabakh. He subsequently represented the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh region in peace talks held by 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. He was also a member of State Commission on POWs, Missing and Citizens taken hostage. As the leader of Azerbaijani community of Karabakh, he believed public diplomacy between Azerbaijan and Armenia would not yield any substantial results and that only after the return of Azerbaijani community to their homes in Karabakh would resolve its final status.