Azerbaijani folklore and world literature played a significant role in Afandiyev's future career.

In 1968, he completed his post-graduate studies at the Nizami Institute of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, writing a 500-page dissertation.

In the following years, nearly 100 books of Afandiyev were translated and published in English, French, German, Spanish, Turkish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Arabic, Persian, Mandarin, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Croatian, Georgian, Lithuanian, Moldovan, Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakh, Tajik, Serbian and other languages.

[4] As a Deputy Prime Minister, he supervises various sectors of government activity such as sports and cultural relations.

Efendiyev was awarded with Istiglal Order for his contributions to the development of Azerbaijani literature by President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev on 29 May 2003.