Territorial and administrative units are formed according to the Law on Territorial Structure and Administrative Division (№ 892-IQ of June 13, 2000). The Republic of Azerbaijan is administratively divided into 66 districts and 11 cities subordinate to the Republic. The districts are further divided into municipalities. Out of these, seven districts and one city is located within the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
The Ministry for Culture, being the central executive body implementing state cultural policy, manages the cultural sphere not only at a centralised but also at the local level through its regional and local structures. The 15 regional cultural departments of the Ministry for Culture manage state-local cultural enterprises, and five regional departments of the State Service for Protection, Development and Restoration of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry for Culture and protect immovable cultural heritage located in the regions. State institutions of culture and art, monuments of history and culture, and a number of historical and cultural reserves, which are in the system of the Ministry for Culture, are financed from the central or regional budgets of the ministry.
District institutions of culture in the system of the Ministry for Culture act under their model regulations approved by the Decision of the Board of the Ministry for Culture (No. 6/1 of November 8, 2018), such as:
- The Model Regulations of History and Ethnography Museums;
- The Model Regulations on the Centralised Library System;
- The Model Regulations of Children’s Schools of Music, Art and Painting;
- The Model Regulations of City (District) Cultural Centres;
- The Model Regulations of City (district) Heydar Aliyev centres;
- The Model Regulations of State Art Galleries operating in the Regions of the Republic.
The Ministry for Culture and its subordinate bodies cooperate with city/district executive authorities and self-government bodies in implementing the state cultural policy at the local level. “Regulations on local executive authorities” approved by the Presidential Decree (№ 648 of June 6, 2012) define the duties of the local executive power in the field of culture as follows:
- Implements state policy in the field of culture in the relevant area
- Makes proposals on draft state programmes for the development of culture and art and ensures the implementation of these programmes in the appropriate location;
- Organises protection of historical, cultural, natural monuments and cultural heritage sites with the Ministry for Culture.
For this purpose, departments of socio-political and humanitarian affairs and departments related to architecture are included in the city, district and city district executive authorities. For example, the Baku City Executive Power structure includes the Department of Protection of the city’s cultural heritage and the Sector for registration of toponymy, architectural monuments, and allocated areas.
According to the Law on The Status of Municipalities (№ 698-IQ of July 2, 1999), they may assist in developing cultural institutions and preserving historical and cultural monuments via their local social protection and social development programmes.
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