Heydar Aliyev

Heydar Aliyev
Heydər Əliyev
Photo of Aliyev wearing suit and tie
Official portrait
3rd President of Azerbaijan
In office
10 October 1993 – 31 October 2003
Acting: 24 June – 10 October 1993
Prime MinisterSurat Huseynov
Fuad Guliyev
Artur Rasizade
Ilham Aliyev
Preceded byAbulfaz Elchibey
Succeeded byIlham Aliyev
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan
In office
15 June 1993 – 5 November 1993
PresidentAbulfaz Elchibey
Himself
Prime MinisterSurat Huseynov
Fuad Guliyev
Preceded byIsa Gambar
Succeeded byRasul Guliyev
Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic
In office
17 November 1990 – 9 October 1993
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byVasif Talibov
First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union
In office
24 November 1982 – 23 October 1987
PresidentVasili Kuznetsov (acting)
Yuri Andropov
Vasili Kuznetsov (acting)
Konstantin Chernenko
Vasili Kuznetsov (acting)
Andrei Gromyko
PremierNikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded byIvan Arkhipov
Succeeded byAndrei 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 byVeli Akhundov
Succeeded byKamran Baghirov
Candidate member of the 25th, 26th Politburo
In office
5 March 1976 – 22 November 1982
Personal details
Born
Heydar Alirza oğlu Aliyev

(1923-05-10)10 May 1923
Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died12 December 2003(2003-12-12) (aged 80)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Resting placeAlley of Honor
Political partyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (1945–1991)
New Azerbaijan Party (1992–2003)[1]
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1948; died 1985)​
ChildrenSevil Aliyeva
Ilham Aliyev
Alma materBaku State University
AwardsHero of Socialist Labour (twice)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union
Branch/serviceCommittee for State Security of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
Years of service1941–1969
RankMajor General
Battles/wars

Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev[2] (Azerbaijani: Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev (Latin), Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев (Cyrillic), IPA: [hejˈdæɾ æliɾˈzɑ oɣˈlu æˈlijef]; Russian: Гейда́р Али́евич Али́ев, IPA: [ɡʲɪjˈdar ɐˈlʲijɪvʲɪtɕ ɐˈlʲijɪf]; 10 May 1923[3] – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003.

He was a high-ranking official in the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR, serving for 28 years in Soviet state security organs (1941–1969). He governed Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. He held the post of First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1987. He rose through the ranks due to his close associations with Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov.

Aliyev was installed as president of Azerbaijan after the 1993 military coup ousted President Abulfaz Elchibey.[4] Elchibey was a prominent Soviet dissident and Azerbaijani nationalist leader who had been elected as president in independent Azerbaijan's first free election in 1992.[4] Aliyev's installation as president put an end to Azerbaijan's short post-independence democratic interlude.[5][6] Shortly after taking charge, Aliyev organized a presidential election where he won nearly 99% of the vote.[7]

His regime in Azerbaijan has been described as dictatorial,[8][9][10][11][12][13] authoritarian,[14][15][16][17] and repressive.[18] He was also said to have run a heavy-handed police state where elections were rigged and dissent was repressed.[19][20] A cult of personality developed around Aliyev, which has continued after his death in 2003. Shortly before his death, his son Ilham Aliyev was elected president in a fraudulent election and continues to lead Azerbaijan to this day.[21]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference East & Thomas 2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The National Leader of the Azerbaijani Nation - Heydar Aliyev".
  3. ^ "Heydar Aliyev biography". Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
  4. ^ a b "Freedom in the World 2009 - Azerbaijan". Freedom House. 2009.
  5. ^ Schedler, Andreas (2013). The Politics of Uncertainty: Sustaining and Subverting Electoral Authoritarianism. Oxford University Press. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-19-166983-5.
  6. ^ Waal, Thomas De (2018). The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-19-068308-5.
  7. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (1997), Parrott, Bruce; Dawisha, Karen (eds.), "Azerbaijan's struggle toward democracy", Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 110–155, ISBN 978-0-521-59731-9
  8. ^ The Two Faces of Azerbaijan's Mr. Aliyev // The New York Times, 11 January 2015
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Elisabeth Precht. Azerbaijan In the Shadow of a Dictatorship //Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, 2012
  13. ^ В турецком учебнике Гейдар Алиев представлен как диктатор Archived 20 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine // Сontact.az. 2013 Февраль 09 «В изданной в Турции учебнике „Конституционное права“ для студентов университетов бывший президент Азербайджана Гейдар Алиев назван „диктатором“» (copy)
  14. ^ Rise of Leader's Son Sharpens Azerbaijan's Identity Crisis // Washington Post. 9 August 2003
  15. ^ David J. Kramer and Richard Kauzlarich. It's time for the United States to act on Azerbaijan // Washington Post, 8 September 2016
  16. ^ Svante E. Cornell Democratization Falters in Azerbaijan // Journal of Democracy 12.2 (2001) 118—131
  17. ^ 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)»
  18. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. 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.
  19. ^ "Heidar Aliev, maestro of the Caucasus". The Economist. 31 August 2000. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 3 September 2017. "There is stability, because Mr Aliev is an acute tactician who runs a heavy-handed police state. Opposition leaders who decline to be co-opted are in jail, in exile or bullied. Elections are rigged, the media muzzled."
  20. ^ Kucera, Joshua (20 May 2008). "Travels in the Former Soviet Union". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Azerbaijan: Biography Of Deceased Former President Heidar Aliyev". eurasianet.org. 14 December 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2021.