Heydar Aliyev

Heydar Aliyev
Heydər Əliyev
Гейдар Алийев
3rd President of Azerbaijan
In office
24 June 1993 – 31 October 2003
Acting: 24 June – 10 October 1993
Prime Minister Surat Huseynov
Fuad Guliyev
Artur Rasizade
Ilham Aliyev
Preceded by Abulfaz Elchibey
Succeeded by Ilham Aliyev
Speaker of the National Assembly
In office
15 June 1993 – 5 November 1993
President Abulfaz Elchibey
Himself
Prime Minister Surat Huseynov
Fuad Guliyev
Preceded by Isa Gambar
Succeeded by Rasul Guliyev
First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union
In office
24 November 1982 – 23 October 1987
President Vasili Kuznetsov (acting)
Yuri Andropov
Vasili Kuznetsov (acting)
Konstantin Chernenko
Vasili Kuznetsov (acting)
Andrei Gromyko
Premier Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded by Ivan Arkhipov
Succeeded by Andrei Gromyko
Full member of the 26th, 27th Politburo
In office
22 November 1982 – 21 October 1987
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan
In office
14 July 1969 – 3 December 1982
Preceded by Veli Akhundov
Succeeded by Kamran Baghirov
Candidate member of the 25th, 26th Politburo
In office
5 March 1976 – 22 November 1982
Personal details
Born Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev
(1923-05-10)10 May 1923
Nakhchivan ASSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died 12 December 2003(2003-12-12) (aged 80)
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Nationality Azerbaijani
Political party

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

New Azerbaijan Party
Spouse(s) Zarifa Aliyeva
Children Sevil Aliyeva
Ilham Aliyev
Awards
Signature
Military service
Allegiance  Soviet Union
Service/branch KGB of Azerbaijan SSR
Years of service 1941–1969
Rank Major General

Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev or Geidar Aliev (Azerbaijani: Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, Һeјдар Алирза оғлу Əлијeв; Russian: Гейда́р Али́евич Али́ев, Geidar Aliyevich Aliyev; 10 May 1923[1] – 12 December 2003), also spelled Haydar Aliev or Geidar Aliev, was the third President of Azerbaijan who served from October 1993 to October 2003. As national president he held constitutional powers, but his influence on Azerbaijani politics had begun years earlier. As a young man he had joined the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) and quickly rose to the rank of Major-General.

Within a few years of his entry into the political world he proved himself to be a very intelligent, hardworking and shrewd politician, eventually becoming the chairman of the agency. His political career went from strength to strength and his selection as the first secretary of the Communist party of Soviet Azerbaijan proved to be the catalyst that ultimately culminated in his becoming the undisputed leader of Azerbaijan. As such he implemented reforms to curb corruption and gained the trust of his citizens. He came to power at a time when Azerbaijan was in the throes of political and economic crises, and he was able to bring about economic development. [2] The regime established by Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan is characterized as dictatorial [3][4][5][6][7] or authoritarian [8][9] and repressive.[10]

Career in the Soviet era

Early life

According to his website, he was born in Nakhchivan City. After graduating from Nakhchivan Pedagogical School, from 1939 to 1941 Aliyev attended the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy), where he studied architecture. In 1949 and 1950, he studied at the USSR MGB Officer Corps Qualifications-Raising School. Aliyev's official biography also stated that he studied at Baku State University, graduating with a degree in history in 1957.[11] According to American journalist Pete Earley, Aliyev first attended the Ministry of State Security Academy in Leningrad, graduating in 1944.[12]

In 1948, he married Zarifa Aliyeva. On 12 October 1955, their daughter Sevil was born. On 24 December 1961, their son Ilham was born. Zarifa died of cancer in 1985.

Leadership of Soviet Azerbaijan

Aliyev joined the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) in 1944. In 1954, as part of a government reform, NKGB became known as Committee for State Security, or the KGB. Aliyev rose quickly within the agency to the rank of Major-General,[13] became a deputy chairman of Azerbaijani KGB in 1964, its chairman in 1967 and rose to the rank of a major general.[14]

In 1969, Aliyev was appointed by Leonid Brezhnev to the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee of Azerbaijan Communist Party amidst a Soviet anti-corruption campaign,[15][16] Aliyev made some progress in the fight against corruption: a number of people were sentenced to prison terms; and in 1975, five factory and collective farm managers were sentenced to death for gross corruption.[17] In the early 1980s, Aliyev barred the offspring of certain legal personnel from attending the Republic's law school, in a purported effort to curb a self-perpetuating elite based on corruption. In 1977, even in Brezhnev's time, he visited Iran: Mashhad twice and Kerbala once.[18]

During the period of his leadership of Soviet Azerbaijan, Aliyev's efforts led to considerably increased economic, social and cultural growth rates in Azerbaijan SSR.[19] Aliyev became perhaps the most successful republican leader, raising the profile of the underprivileged republic and consistently promoting Azerbaijanis to senior posts. [20] [21]

On 22 November 1982, Yuri Andropov promoted Aliyev from candidate to full member of Soviet Politburo[22] and appointed him to the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR,[23] responsible for transportation and social services. Aliyev thus attained the highest position ever reached by an Azerbaijani in the Soviet Union.[24]

In October 1987, Aliyev resigned from this post as a sign of protest against the policy pursued by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the SSR and, personally, Mikhail Gorbachev.[24]

From KGB to leader of Azerbaijan SSR

As head of the KGB's branch in Azerbaijan, Aliyev ran an anti-corruption campaign.[25][26][27] Following the campaign, he became the undisputed leader of Azerbaijan. Aliyev became a candidate (non-voting) member of the Soviet Politburo in 1976. He ran this position until December 1982, when Yuri Andropov promoted him to the office of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers.[25]

A meeting between Heydar Aliyev with Vladimir Putin in Kremlin on 25 January 2002.

His star waned following his appointment in 1985 under Mikhail Gorbachev. His political views became something of a liability to him in the era of perestroika, but he still exerted tremendous power in Azerbaijan. [28][29]

Fall and re-invention

After his forced retirement in 1987, Aliyev remained in Moscow until 1990. He suffered a heart attack during this time. Aliyev appeared in the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan SSR in Moscow, demanded that the organizers and executors of the crime committed against the people of Azerbaijan be punished for[30] a military action which resulted in violent Black January events amidst the brewing Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Almost immediately after this public appearance in Moscow, Aliyev officially resigned his membership in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and left Moscow for his native Nakhchivan. Here, Aliyev reinvented himself as a moderate nationalist and was subsequently elected deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR in Baku. Under the pressure and criticism from the groups connected to his nemesis, the then-leader of Soviet Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutallibov, Aliyev again returned to Nakhchivan, where he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in 1991.

By December 1991, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist and Azerbaijan formally became an independent state, despite Mutallibov's presidency Aliyev independently governed Nakhchivan. Early 1992 was marked by increased violence in Nagorno-Karabakh War with the fall of Shusha, the last Azerbaijani-populated town in Nagorno-Karabakh. These events resulted in the resignation of Mutallibov and the subsequent rise to power of the Azerbaijan Popular Front led by Abulfaz Elchibey. During Elchibey's one year in power, Aliyev continued to govern Nakhchivan without any subordination to the official government in Baku. The attempt by the Popular Front's Minister of Interior Isgandar Hamidov to forcibly overthrow Aliyev in Nakhchivan was thwarted by local militia at the regional airport. During the same period, Aliyev independently negotiated a cease-fire agreement in Nakhchivan with the then-President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrossian.

In May-June 1993, when, as a result of a crisis in the government, the country was on the verge of a civil war and faced the peril of losing independence, the people of Azerbaijan demanded to bring Heydar Aliyev to power, and the then leaders of Azerbaijan were obliged to officially invite Heydar Aliyev to Baku. On 24 June 1993, amidst the advancement of insurgent forces under Huseynov's control towards Baku, Elchibey fled from the city to his native village of Keleki in Nakhchivan. Earlier, on 15 June 1993, Aliyev had been elected Chairman of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan, and after Elchibey's flight he also assumed temporary presidential powers.[31] In August 1993, Elchibey was stripped of his presidency by the nationwide referendum, and in October 1993, Aliyev was elected President of Azerbaijan. In May 1994, Aliyev entered into a ceasefire agreement that still remains in force to this very day. However, the conflict remained unresolved, with Armenian control over Nagorno-Karabakh.

On October 3, 1993, as a result of nationwide voting, Heydar Aliyev was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On October 11, 1998, having garnered at the elections, passed in high activeness of the population, 76,1 percent of the votes, he was re-elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev, giving his consent to be nominated as a candidate at the 15 October 2003 presidential elections, relinquished to run at the elections in connection with health problems. 

Death and successor

The Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku

Aliyev's health began to fail in 1999, when he had a major heart bypass operation in the United States at the Cleveland Clinic. He later had prostate surgery and a hernia operation. He suffered a collapse while giving a speech on live television in April 2003. On 6 August Aliyev returned to the United States for treatment of congestive heart failure and kidney problems. He stood down from the presidency at the start of October 2003 and appointed his son Ilham as his party's sole presidential candidate. On 12 December 2003, President Heydar Aliyev died at the Cleveland Clinic.[32] He was buried at the Fakhri Khiyaban (The Alley of Honor) cemetery in Baku.

Ilham Aliyev duly won the presidential election of 15 October 2003 but international observers again criticized the contest as falling well below expected standards.[33] This transfer of power became the first case of top-level succession in the former Soviet Union.[34]

Honors

Throughout his life, Heydar Aliyev was awarded a number of state orders and medals, international awards, elected honorable doctor of universities in many countries, including the Order of Lenin four times, the Order of the Red Star once and Hero of the Socialist Labor twice. On 27 March 1997 in Kiev, Ukraine, Aliyev received Ukraine's highest award, the Yaroslav Mudry Order, and on 13 April 1999, Turkey's highest honor, the Peace Premium of Atatürk Order. On 3 April 2003, he was elected a professor and authorized member of the Academy of Safety of the Russian Federation, and was subsequently awarded the Premium of Y.V.Andropov. On 10 May 2003, he was decorated with the order of Saint Apostle Andrey Pervozvanny—Russia's supreme award.[1][35]

Honours and awards

Soviet Union
Other

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Heydar Aliyev biography". Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  2. ↑ "Who is Heydar Aliyev? Everything You Need to Know". Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  3. ↑ Hans Slomp. Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO, 2011. ISBN 0-313-39181-5, 9780313391811. P.672
  4. ↑ FranCoise Companjen, Laszlo Maracz, Lia Versteegh. Exploring the Caucasus in the 21st Century: Essays on Culture, History and Politics in a Dynamic Context. Amsterdam University Press, 2011. ISBN 90-8964-183-1, 9789089641830. P.121
  5. ↑ Thomas Goltz. Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter’s Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic. M.E. Sharpe, 1999. ISBN 0-7656-0244-X, 9780765602442. P.66
  6. ↑ Elisabeth Precht. Azerbaijan In the Shadow of a Dictatorship //Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, 2012
  7. ↑ В турецком учебнике Гейдар Алиев представлен как диктатор // Сontact.az. 2013 Февраль 09 «В изданной в Турции учебнике „Конституционное права“ для студентов университетов бывший президент Азербайджана Гейдар Алиев назван „диктатором“»
  8. ↑ Svante E. Cornell Democratization Falters in Azerbaijan // Journal of Democracy 12.2 (2001) 118—131
  9. ↑ Борисов Николай Александрович. Институционализация института президентства и перспективы консолидации политических режимов на постсоветском пространстве // «Полития».-2011.-№ 4(63).-С.93-103. «И хотя эта гипотеза ещё нуждается в дополнительной проверке, уместно предположить, что в этих государствах состоялась авторитарная консолидация, причем важнейшим её фактором был институт президентства и сами личности президентов (Сапармурат Ниязов, Эмомали Рахмон, Нурсултан Назарбаев, Гейдар Алиев)»
  10. ↑ Энциклопедия Британника. Статья: Heydar Aliyev.
    Azerbaijani politician who, was one of the most powerful men in Azerbaijan for more than 30 years, as deputy chairman (1964-67) and chairman (1967-69) of the regional KGB, as secretary (1969-87) of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, and from 1993 as the repressive and autocratic president of independent Azerbaijan.
  11. ↑ "Biography". Heydar Aliyev Center. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Earley, Pete (2008). Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War. Penguin Books. p. 200.
  13. ↑ Nikolaij Nor-Mesek, Wolfgang Rieper. The Defense Council of the USSR, Institut für Sowjet-Studien, 1984, p. 9
  14. ↑ "Heydar Aliyev Foundation - Biography". heydar-aliyev-foundation.org. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  15. ↑ Richard Sakwa. Soviet Politics in Perspective, Routledge, 1998, ISBN 0-415-16992-5, p. 71
  16. ↑ There is no such source, nor any evidence cited that Akhundov was corrupt! Please be a bit respectful! Bernard Anthony Cook. Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, 2001, ISBN 0-8153-4057-5, p. 70
  17. ↑ James Stuart Olson. An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires, Greenwood Press, 1994, ISBN 0-313-27497-5, p. 71
  18. ↑ Louise I. Shelley. Policing Soviet Society: The Evolution of State Control, Routledge, 1996, ISBN 0-415-10469-6, p. 88
  19. ↑ Christian Schmidt-Häuer. Gorbachev: The Path to Power, I. B. Tauris, 1986, ISBN 1-85043-015-2, p. 205
  20. ↑ Thomas De Waal. Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, NYU Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8147-1945-7, p. 134
  21. ↑ Harold James Perkin. The Third Revolution: Professional Elites in the Modern World, Routledge, 1996, ISBN 0-415-14337-3, p. 134
  22. ↑ Alexander Hopkins McDannald. The Americana Annual: An Encyclopedia of Current Events, Americana Corporation, 1983, p. 524
  23. ↑ Martin McCauley. Who's Who in Russia Since 1900, Routledge, 1997, ISBN 0-415-13898-1, p. 13
  24. 1 2 Roger East, Richard Thomas, Alan John Day. A Political and Economic Dictionary of Eastern Europe, Routledge, 2002, ISBN 1-85743-063-8, p. 34
  25. 1 2 Perkin, Harold James (1996). The Third Revolution: Professional Elites in the Modern World. Routledge. p. 204. ISBN 0415143373.
  26. ↑ Block, Alan A. (1997). Masters of Paradise: A Postscript. Transaction Publishers. p. 325. ISBN 1560009713.
  27. ↑ Azadian, Edmond Y. (2000). History on the Move: Views, Interviews and Essays on Armenian Issues. Wayne State University Press. p. 67. ISBN 0814329160.
  28. ↑ EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Azerbaijan: Biography Of Deceased Former President Heidar Aliyev
  29. ↑ The Gorbachev Prospect, by George Soros , Volume 36, Number 9, 1 June 1989,The New York Review of Books
  30. ↑ Roger East, Richard J. Thomas. Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 1-85743-126-X, p. 32
  31. ↑ United States Library of Congress Country Studies Azerbaijan - The Coup of June 1993.
  32. ↑ China Daily News Azerbaijan's Geidar Aliev dies at 80. Published 16 December 2003
  33. ↑ Human Rights Watch Azerbaijan: Presidential Elections 2003
  34. ↑ Radio Free Europe Azerbaijan: Ilham Aliev's Confirmation As Premier Will Keep Presidency In The Family. Written by Askold Krushelnycky. Published 4 August 2003.
  35. ↑ Mexico City Removes Aliyev Statue
  36. ↑ "Dostluk İlişkilerine Katkının Altın Sembolü: Devlet ve Cumhuriyet Nişanları (Turkish) - The Gold Symbol Contribution of Friendly Relations : State and Republic Orders". Haberler.com. February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Vali Akhundov		 First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party
1969–1982 		Succeeded by
Kamran Bagirov
Political offices
Preceded by
none		 Parliamentary Chairman of Nakhchivan
1991–1993 		Succeeded by
Vasif Talibov
Preceded by
Abulfaz Elchibey		 President of Azerbaijan
1993–2003 		Succeeded by
Ilham Aliyev
History Locations Political leaders Military leaders Documents

Origins:

  • History of Artsakh

Soviet era:

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

1 Republic of Armenia's involvement is partial
2 Unrecognized state, but a de facto functioning republic

Administrative territorial entities of the NKR:

Districts of Azerbaijan under Armenian control:

 Armenia1:

 Republic of Artsakh2:

 Azerbaijan:

Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh:

 Russia:

 Soviet Union:

 Turkey:

 Armenia:

 Republic of Artsakh:

 Azerbaijan:

 Russia:

 Soviet Union:

  • Viktor Polyanichko

 Chechen Republic of Ichkeria:

 Afghanistan:

Peace process:

International documents:

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