 Under President Heydar Aliyev in 1993 the position rose to become the second after the head of state.Tadeusz Swietochowski wrote, '...Clearly, the number two person in Azerbaijan is Lala Shevket Hajiyeva, whose title is State Secretary - which does not mean a foreign minister...'

The last holder of the position, Professor Lala Shevket herself told in an interview to Azerbaijan International magazine about the scope of the responsibilities of Azerbaijani Secretary of State, "There's a big difference between the United States' Secretary of State and Azerbaijan's.Our Secretary of State is actually more like a Vice-President.