Zahid Oruj

Zahid Oruj graduated with honors from Azerbaijan Technical University (ATU), where he was a member of the university's elite student committee and served as a member of the scientific council for five years. After graduation, he joined the post-graduate program at the Photoelectronics Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan and later worked as a research associate at the Institute of Physics of the Academy.

In the 1990s, he became a prominent figure in the growing national liberation movement in Azerbaijan, leading student organizations and actively participating in political life. In 1992, he was elected head of the press service of the Motherland Party and its deputy for political affairs. He also served as editor-in-chief of the “Ana Vatan” newspaper.

Zahid Oruj was elected to the National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. During his tenure, he chaired the Human Rights Committee of the National Assembly and participated in various parliamentary working groups on foreign relations with Germany, the UK, Denmark and Uzbekistan. He was also a member of Azerbaijan's parliamentary delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Recognized for his outstanding contributions to the media and public organizations, he is regularly listed among the most active parliamentarians. For ten years, he was a member of the Azerbaijan-NATO Parliamentary Assembly Relations Group and participated in several international conferences.

Zahid Oruj ran for President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2013, 2018 and 2024, coming second in the elections each time. Since 2020, he has been an active member of the Pardon Issues Commission under the President of Azerbaijan.

He is known for his conceptual strategic views, proposals and ideas on various spheres of national life. He regularly contributes articles and analyses on geopolitics, regional and international politics, and Azerbaijan's state and public affairs to local and international media.

Zahid Oruj has received numerous certifications and awards as a partner in projects under NATO's Partnership for Peace program, hosted by the Marshall Center. In February 2019, by decree of the president of Azerbaijan, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Social Research Center. He is also the founder and international editor-in-chief of the international scientific-analytical journal "Social Research" and serves as the project leader for Azerbaijan in the "Turk Barometer" research group of the International Turkic Academy.