President of the Azerbaijan National Olympic Academy, Honorary Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Aghajan Abiyev was awarded the European Olympic Committee's "Olympic Wreath Award.

The award was presented to Secretary-General of the Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee Azer Aliyev at the General Assembly.

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) is an organisation based in Rome, Italy, consisting of 50 National Olympic Committees from the continent of Europe.

The idea of grouping the European National Olympic Committees (NOCs) under a single umbrella, inspired by Giulio Onesti (ITA), Raoul Mollet (BEL) and Raymond Gafner (SUI), was first muted in 1967 in Tehran, with the creation of what was later known as ANOC (Association of National Olympic Committees).

A first step in the creation of the Continental Association of European NOCs (AENOC) took place at the Assembly of Versailles in 1968, under the leadership of AENOC's first president, Count Jean de Beaumont (FRA).

It was not until 1975 in Lisbon that the Association had written statutes and a definitive name: The Association of European NOCs. In 1976 Bo Bengtson (SWE) became the second President of the Association.

The 1980 General Assembly, with 33 members, elected Franco Carraro (ITA) as president while the secretariat was entrusted to Adrien Vanden Eede (BEL).During the 80s, the Association's key meetings – the General Assembly and the Seminar for Secretaries General and Chefs de Mission – helped the EOC establish its value to its members.

The meetings regularly addressed themes critical to the success of the Olympic Movement, including preparations for an Olympic Games, Olympic Solidarity and marketing.