Yalchin Ilgar oglu Rafiyev

He was born on 9 February 1987 in the city of Shamkir.

He began his professional career on 21 September 2007 as a referent in the Security Problems Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2009 to 2011, he was an attaché in the same department; from 2011 to 2013, he served as third secretary, and from 2013 to 2015 as second secretary, at the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Austria. From 2016 to 2017, he was first secretary in the ministry’s International Security Department, and from 2017 to 2018 he served as first secretary at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

From August 2018 to September 2019, he was Deputy Head of the International Security Department, and from September 2019 to September 2023 he headed the department. By an Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 8 September 2023, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; by an Order dated 8 July 2026, he was awarded the diplomatic rank of “Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary”.

In 2007, he graduated with distinction with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Faculty of International Law and International Relations at Baku State University. From 2010 to 2011, he studied at the Senior Course of the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy, and from 2014 to 2016 he pursued a master’s programme in Anti-Corruption Studies at the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Laxenburg, Austria.