Gulshan Pashayeva was born into the family of historian Mammadali Pashayev. She graduated with a gold medal from Secondary School No. 159 in Baku in 1978 and earned a degree in Structural and Applied Linguistics from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1983.[2]
In 1996, she founded the Research Center for Conflictology Problems and led the center until 2001.[3] From 2001 to 2006, she served as the National Coordinator for Azerbaijan in the UN Women's "Women in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding in the South Caucasus" regional project. Between 2007 and 2009, she worked at the UN Department of Public Information in Azerbaijan.[2]
In 2009, she became head of the Foreign Policy Analysis Department at the Center for Strategic Studies and was appointed its deputy director in 2011. In 2018, she started working at the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan as a chief advisor, and since 2019, she has been a member of the Board of the Center for Analysis of International Relations.[2][4]
Gulshan Pashayeva was elected to the National Assembly of Azerbaijan in 2024, representing the 13th Khazar Second Constituency.[5] She is a member of the Committees on Defense, Security, and Anti-Corruption, International Relations, and Hybrid Threats, as well as the Azerbaijan–EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
She was awarded the Progress Medal in 2017 and the 25th Anniversary Medal of Mine Action Agency in 2023.
From 1983 to 2001, Gulshan Pashayeva worked at Baku State University in roles ranging from lecturer to associate professor. She holds a PhD in Philology, awarded in 1990.[2]
She specializes in conflict resolution, security, gender studies, and language policy. She has taken part and conducted research in international programs on conflict resolution and negotiation, including the "Partners in Conflict" program at the University of Maryland in 1995 and a Fulbright Scholarship at Fletcher School at Tufts University in 1998–1999. She also attended mediation training at the Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution in 2000, and a conflict resolution program at Uppsala University in 2001.[2][6]
Gulshan Pashayeva has authored over 130 articles and co-edited three books, including The EU Eastern Partnership: Common Framework or Wider Opportunity? (2012),[7] Cooperation in Eurasia: Linking Identity, Security, and Development (2016),[8] and Trapped Between War and Peace: The Case of Karabakh (2017).
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