Rusif Huseynov

Co-founder, Director

Rusif Huseynov is the Director of the Topchubashov Center, a Baku-based think tank. His work focuses on socio-political developments, frozen conflicts, and ethnic minorities in post-Soviet countries, with particular attention to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Mr. Huseynov holds a bachelor’s degree from Baku State University and a master’s degree from the University of Tartu. He has been a ReThink.CEE fellow (2021) at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Local Focal Point within the EU4Dialogue project, and a Think Visegrad fellow (2025).

He regularly publishes commentary and provides interviews for various international media outlets.

Murad Muradov 

Co-founder, Deputy Director

Murad Muradov graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the Academy of Public Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2011), a Master of Arts in Diplomacy and International Affairs from the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (2013) and a Master of Science in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics (2015). He participated in a number of training programs, summer schools and fellowships both in Azerbaijan and abroad, including the John Smith Trust Fellowship for Wider Europe (2017). His areas of expertise cover security and geopolitics of post-Soviet countries, Western European politics and international political economy.

Ayaz Rzayev

Research Fellow 

Ayaz Rzayev studied at Baku State University in 2007-2011 and received BA in International Studies. He obtained his MA from the University of Bologna, Italy in 2015. In 2016-2019, he worked as a researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS), and then as a leading consultant at the Center of Analysis of International Relations. Ayaz is an expert on international security.