Geysar Gurbanov

| years_active = 2006 - present | website = www.argus.holdings | known_for = | notable_works = }}Geysar Gurbanov is a political and peace activist, author, journalist and investor from Azerbaijan. He was the Legal and Political Consultant for the Council of the European Union, South Caucasus Office and the Executive Director of the NATO Information Centre, Azerbaijan. He currently lives in Tacoma, Washington and is the founder and CEO of Argus Investment and Trading LLC based in Washington State.

Early life and education

Gurbanov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The experience of witnessing the violent collapse of the Soviet Union and a war that broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan shaped Gurbanov’s dreams for peace at a very young age. In 2006, he completed a Non-Degree Program in the Administration of Justice at Tacoma Community College through a fellowship program from the U.S. Department of State. He completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Baku State University in 2010 and earned a Graduate Certificate in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from Duke University in Durham in 2015. He has a Master’s Degree in Russian and Eastern European Studies from University of North Carolina.

Gurbanov’s fellowships include the Undergraduate Exchange Fellowship from the U.S. Department of State in 2005-2006 and the Rotary International Peace Fellowship from Rotary International in 2013-2015. In 2014, Gurbanov also received the Paul Harris Fellowship for his contributions in peacebuilding efforts.

Wikileaks controversy

In 2011, Gurbanov permanently immigrated to the United States after he was mentioned on the Wikileaks website among the U.S. State Department secret cables leaked by Bradley/Chelsea Manning. In a stolen classified document sent to the U.S. State Department, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Council and the U.S. Defense Department, Gurbanov was described as “interlocutor” and “contact” of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan. Beginning from 2009, the government of Azerbaijan suspected that Gurbanov was working undercover for American diplomats. Prior to Wikileaks, however, the government of Azerbaijan could not produce any evidence to incriminate Gurbanov.

Work

Gurbanov started his career as a Program Coordinator for International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) in Azerbaijan in 2006-2007. He then became the Project Coordinator at British Council in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2008. He worked as the Parliamentary Liaison Assistant for OSCE ODIHR Election Observation Missions in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2008 and 2010. Between 2009-2010, Gurbanov worked as the Executive Director of the NATO Information Centre in Azerbaijan. Gurbanov worked as the Legal and Political Consultant with the Council of European States, South Caucasus Office in Azerbaijan during 2008-2011. In January 2017 he founded Argus Investment & Trading LLC, a private investment company based in Tacoma, Washington.

Other ventures

In 2011, he started “The South Caucasus Diary,” a blog about political and human rights issues in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Gurbanov became a Rotary International Peace Fellow in 2013 and subsequently gained admission into Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies (CSEEES).

Publications

Gurbanov co-authored the book Europe’s Next Avoidable War: Nagorno-Karabakh published by Palgrave MacMillan. Articles by Gurbanov have appeared in newspapers such as the News Tribune, the Bellingham Herald, the U.S. News & World Report, the San Antonio Express News, the Baltimore Sun, the Duke Chronicle and the Harvard Crimson.