Former education minister Jeikhun Bayramov was appointed to succeed Elmar Mamedyarov in the post of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, Reuters reports.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev sacked Mammadyarov on Thursday, July 16 after accusing him of “meaningless negotiations” with Armenia amid a flare-up in hostilities between two countries.

Aliyev said on Wednesday Mamedyarov did not do enough to try to resolve the conflict.

“What was the foreign minister doing? Where he was? We were all at work after the July 12 events ... and I could not find him,” Aliyev told a government meeting of the start of the clashes on Sunday.

“... Unfortunately, recently our diplomacy is not compatible with the successful development of our country. In some cases it is engaged in meaningless work, meaningless negotiations.”

Mamedyarov, 60, was appointed the country's foreign minister in April 2004.