Azerbaijan’s Diplomatic Couple in Georgetown
By Didi Cutler • September 26, 0
More than six years and counting. That’s how long Ambassador Elin Suleymanov and his striking wife, Lala Abdurahimova, have resided in Georgetown while representing their country, the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Now seemed an appropriate time to sit down with this impressive diplomatic couple to talk about their experiences in America and to learn more about their distant but important nation.
Slightly smaller than the state of Maine, Azerbaijan is located in a challenging part of the world: Russia to the north, Iran to the south, Armenia to the west, the Caspian Sea to the east.
No stranger to the United States, the ambassador first came here as a student at the University of Toledo in He later studied at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy near Boston. After postings in the president’s office in the capital, Baku, and later as first secretary at the embassy in Washington, in he was named consul general in Los Angeles — Azerbaijan’s first diplomatic presence on the West Coast. (The country also has a United Nations mission in New York and an honorary consul in Santa
Azerbaijan
“THANK GOODNESS for the British tradition to drink tea every day!” declares Azerbaijan’s new Ambassador His Excellency Mr Elin Suleymanov. “On my travels around the world, I’ve always struggled to get a good cup of loose-leaf tea.” A career diplomat, he arrived in the capital with his family in August.
Studying at Moscow State University, Ambassador Suleymanov witnessed first-hand the break-up of the Soviet Union. “It was a turbulent time. But now the Republic of Azerbaijan is 30 years old – it’s almost twice as young as me! As part of the first generation of people representing the country, we are proud of our nation’s successes and how vibrant and independent Azerbaijan society is.” The first Azerbaijani recipient of the Muskie Fellowship, a graduate programme sponsored by the US government that brought students from former Soviet Union countries to study in the US, he completed his master’s at the University of Toledo, Ohio. Despite studying abroad, he says “I was ingrained with a commitment to my homeland,” returning to Azerbaijan in to work at the UN Commission for Refugees. “There I saw enormous devastation: the occupation of our land and a million people
The striking water features in Washington and Baku connect the two capital cities for Lala Abdurahimova, the statuesque wife of Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin Suleymanov. While the Potomac River snakes through the District and divides it from Virginia, Baku borders on the much bigger, hydrocarbon-rich Caspian Sea.
&#;Washington reminds me of home since it is very hot here,&#; Abdurahimova said of the similarities between the two cities. &#;Back in Baku, we have a seaside right in town. There are resorts and everyone has someone in their family who has a summerhouse where you can go to swim and relax. Of course, here you just drive a little bit and you are at the ocean.&#;
The couple also got a taste of the ocean at their previous posting in Los Angeles, where for five years Suleymanov served as Azerbaijan&#;s first-ever consul general to L.A., leading the team that established the country&#;s diplomatic presence on the West Coast.
Ironically, &#;when we lived in L.A., we had the seaside all the time, but I missed having the rest of the seasons like we have here and at home,&#; Abdurahimova reflected.
Photo: Dan Vermillion
His Excellency, Elin Suleymanov - Azerbaijani Ambassador to the UK
HE Elin Suleymanov is the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Kingdom, appointed in by President Ilham Aliyev. Prior to that Mr. Suleymanov served as Azerbaijan’s long-time Ambassador to the United States of America for a full decade representing his nation's interests in the dynamically changing environment of Washington.
From to , as the nation’s first Consul General to Los Angeles and the Western States, Mr. Suleymanov led the team, which established Azerbaijani diplomatic presence on the West Coast.
Earlier, he served as Senior Counselor at the Foreign Relations Department, Office of the President in Baku, Azerbaijan and as Press Officer of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington, DC. Mr. Suleymanov’s experience before joining diplomatic service includes working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Azerbaijan and Glaverbel Czech, a leading manufacturing company in East-Central Europe.
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