COVER N. 748 - AZERBAIJAN 

Postmark: Azərbaycan Naxçivan Muxtar Respublikasi

Posted on the 6th June;  Received on the 10th July 2026

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It seems that The Ghost Who Walks, the restless wanderer, my friend Herr Phantom, went to the South Caucasus, specifically to places that have been has restless as himself..... Danke Sehr, Alex. These make interesting additions to the collection.

The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is an Azerbaijani landlocked exclave separated from Azerbaijan by Armenia in the North and East; by Iran in the South and West and by Turkey in the West.

Given that relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been quite tense, especially in what concerns the Nagorno-Karabah region, (which was populated mostly by ethnic Armenians)  the location of the exclave has put it under pressure by Armenia during the active confrontations between the two ex-Soviet Republics.

These had their apex in 2023, during the so called second Nagorno-Karabah war, when Azerbaijan expelled all the Armenian population from what was until then the self-proclaimed Artsakh Republic, which had no international recognition, forcing it to flee into Armenia under conditions that motivated the remarks of several International organisations like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International.

Nowadays  a de facto peace exists between the two countries, even though a formal peace treaty has yet to be signed.

The cover was stamped with two 0,5 manat stamps featuring a photo of Heydar Aliyev (1923-2003), the third President of Azerbaijan and the father of the current President, Ilham Aliyev.

The stamp is part of a vast multiple format issue marking the 20th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev passing, dated of  10MAY2023, all stamps being illustrated with his portrait. 

The postmark was applied at Nakhchivan, the capital if this  autonomous region of Azerbaijan.