On March 7, 2025, the head of the Department of Ecological Geography of Sheki RSC, Ph.D. in Geography, Gafgaz Agabalayev acted as an official opponent in the defense of the dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Arzu Mikayil Khasmammadova on the topic "GEOGRAPHICAL ISSUES OF TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION OF RECREATION-TOURISM ECONOMY IN THE QUBA-KHACMAZ ECONOMIC REGION" at the FD 2.51 Dissertation Council operating under the Faculty of Geography of Baku State University.