Considering the role of national diplomacy in the creation of the first Democratic Republic in the Muslim world and in the process of building an independent Azerbaijani state at the present stage, as well as being guided by the adoption on July 9, 1919 of an interim instruction on the secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on August 24, 2007 signed a decree on the annual celebration of July 9 as a professional holiday for employees of the diplomatic services of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Several proposals were considered to determine the day of diplomacy - one of them is the day of the first agreement signed by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with a foreign state, the agreement was concluded with Ottoman Turkey. Another day is the day of the actual recognition of the independence of Azerbaijan by the Entente countries at the Paris Peace Conference. Other significant dates were also considered. However, in the end, it was decided that the first official document found in the archives relating to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was a temporary instruction for the Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic dated July 9, 1919, therefore it was decided that this date should lie as the basis of Diplomacy Day.

In 1919, when Azerbaijani diplomacy was making its first steps, diplomatic missions of 16 foreign countries - the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Iran, Poland, and Ukraine operated in Baku.

After the actual recognition of the independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic at the Paris Peace Conference on January 11, 1920, the government prepared a bill on the establishment of diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in Western Europe and America.

On December 30, 1922, the Treaty on the formation of the USSR was signed at the First All-Union Congress of Soviets in Moscow. Independent foreign policy activity of Azerbaijan was completely stopped. On October 8, 1923, the first paragraph of order No. 529 of the Council of People's Commissars of the Azerbaijan SSR abolished all the diplomatic missions operating in Azerbaijan, except for the representations of Turkey and Iran.

Only towards the end of World War II, in 1944, the Soviet government, guided by its broad strategic interests, along with other republics, created the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan SSR in Azerbaijan. However, this body existed for many years only formally.

In the 70s and 80s of the 20th century, Azerbaijan's international relations expanded compared to previous years. After the Iranian revolution of 1978-1979 and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, Azerbaijan again began to play an important role in the eastern policy of the USSR. The role of Azerbaijan has increased and in the 70s the capital of the republic turned into a venue for many international meetings. During these years, Azerbaijan has become an influential republic in the Muslim East, the geography of its international, economic, cultural, and scientific and technical ties has expanded even more. In the 70s, about 40 Azerbaijani diplomats worked in the system of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After Azerbaijan declared its independence again on October 18, 1991, the process of its recognition by international organizations and states of the world began. The Republic of Azerbaijan became a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on December 8, 1991, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on January 30, 1992, and the United Nations on March 2, 1992. On April 4, 1992, the Republic of Azerbaijan became a permanent representative to the United Nations.
On January 14, 1992, the Republic of Turkey became the first country with which Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations.

The Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated April 9, 1992, approved the Regulations on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The new Regulation on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan was approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan No. 16 dated January 29, 2004.

In 1993, at the insistence of the Azerbaijani people, national leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power. From that moment, the process of building national statehood began, which affected all areas, including the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The great leader outlined the strategic line of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.

The foreign policy strategy formulated by Heydar Aliyev, first and foremost, clearly and precisely defines the national interests of our republic. In the first place, this is the establishment of friendly relations with neighboring states and the world community based on the principles of equality, non-interference in internal affairs, cooperation, while at the same time maintaining the line of Euro-Atlantic integration. This is the achievement of sustainable development in the long term through successful energy and transport infrastructure diplomacy, increasing the maneuverability and strategic depth of our foreign policy, and most importantly, this is the internationalization of Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan, increasing international political pressure on Armenia to eliminate the consequences of the occupation and, as the main goal, ensuring sovereignty , territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of Azerbaijan.

Today President Ilham Aliyev successfully continues the foreign policy line of the national leader. The head of state at all international meetings and negotiations at the highest level successfully defends the interests of Azerbaijan in the modern world, which is rapidly changing as a result of the processes of globalization and integration. The role and influence of Azerbaijan in solving international and regional problems is growing. Azerbaijan, the leading state in the region, is one of the countries that have their say on a global scale. It is no coincidence that today Azerbaijan, without prejudice to its national interests, has become a unique place for interaction between friendly countries based on the principles of honest and mutually beneficial cooperation. The successes achieved once again confirm the effectiveness, breadth and balance of the independent foreign policy pursued by the Republic of Azerbaijan in accordance with the priority tasks identified by the country's leadership within the framework of a single strategy.

As a result of the successful foreign policy of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, our lands, occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years, were liberated from the enemy. In this struggle for rights, several countries around the world have demonstrated their political support for Azerbaijan. As a result of the policy of the head of state after the war, several countries declared their readiness to participate in the reconstruction work in Karabakh.

Currently, the Republic of Azerbaijan has established diplomatic relations with 183 foreign countries. Azerbaijan has embassies in 59 countries, consulates-general in 9 cities and honorary consulates in 17 countries. Azerbaijan has permanent representations at 19 international organizations. At the same time, embassies of 66 countries, 4 consulates-general of 3 countries, 13 honorary consulates and 21 representative offices of international organizations operate in Azerbaijan.

Today, about 1,000 professional diplomats work in the country and abroad, defending national interests in international and regional organizations, adequately represent Azerbaijan in the international arena, successfully implementing the country's foreign policy.

Recommended literature:

1. Qasımlı, Musa Cəfər oğlu. Azərbaycanın xarici işlər nazirləri / M. C. Qasımlı, E. Ə. Hüseynova ; red.: H. C. Əlibəyli, N. Axundov. - Bakı: Adiloğlu, 2003. - 110 s.
2. Mahmudov, Yaqub Mikayıl oğlu. Azərbaycan: beynəlxalq münasibətlər və diplomatiya tarixi : dövlətlərarası müqavilələr və digər xarici siyasət aktları: 4 cilddə / Y. M. Mahmudov, K. K. Şükürov ; AMEA A.A. Bakıxanov adına Tarix İnstitutu, Regionların İnkişafı İctimai Birliyi. I cild : 1639-cu il Səfəvi-Osmanlı Qəsri-Şirin sülhü - 1828-ci il Türkmənçay traktatı. - Bakı : [n. y.], 2009. - 512 s.
3. Məmmədov, Novruz İsmayıl oğlu. Xarici siyasətin Azərbaycan modeli : məqalələrdən seçmələr: 1997-2011 / N. İ. Məmmədov. - Bakı : Çaşıoğlu, 2012. - 464 s.
4. Məmmədov, Novruz İsmayıl oğlu. Xarici siyasət : reallıqlar və gələcəyə baxış / N. İ. Məmmədov ; red. K. Ə. Adıgözəlov ; rəy. Ə. İ. Həbibbəyli. - Bakı : Qanun, 2013. - 264 s.
5. Məmmədov, Fərhad. Azərbaycanda araşdırma və beyin mərkəzləri : yaranması, inkişafı və perspektivləri / F. Məmmədov, T. Allahyarova ; elmi red. E. Aslanov ; red. A. Məmmədov ; Azərbaycan Respublikasının Prezidenti yanında Strateji Araşdırmalar Mərkəzi. - Bakı : Caspian Links, 2013. - 348 s.
6. Ulaxoviç, Vladimir Yevgenyeviç. Müasir diplomatiyada protokol və etiket / V. Y. Ulaxoviç ; rus dilindən tərc.: A. K. Eyyubov, Z. R. Bayramov, N. Babayeva-Vəkilova ; tərc. red. B. M. Abdullayev. - Bakı : İqtisad Universiteti nəşriyyatı, 2012. - 276 s.
7. Babanlı, Yəhya Məmməd oğlu. Azərbaycan Respublikasının xarici siyasəti və diaspor fəaliyyəti: 1991-2011 : monoqrafiya / Y. M. Babanlı ; elmi red. Y. M. Mahmudov ; red. M. H. Seyidbəyli ; AMEA A.A. Bakıxanov adına Tarix İnstitutu. - Bakı: Elm və təhsil, 2016. - 328 s.
8. Әсәдов, Фирудин. XVIII әср Азәрбајҹан дипломатлары / Ф. С. Әсәдов, А. Сүлејманов ; елми ред. Б. Абдуллајев. - Бакы : Елм, 2000. - 80 с.
9. Садыхов, Фикрет Ягуб оглу. Дипломатическая служба Азербайджана: политические приоритеты, этапы формирования / Ф. Я. Садыхов. - Баку : Адильоглы, 2004. - 300 с.
10. Trilateral Dimension of Azerbaijan's Foreign Policy / Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan ; ed.: F. Mammadov, F. Chiragov. - Baku : Aston-Print, 2015. - 148 p.