
Heydar Aliyev

Heydar Alirza oğlu Aliyev (, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who served as the third President of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003. As the 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.
The regime established by Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan has been described as dictatorial, authoritarian, and repressive. Political commentators highlight that Aliyev ran a heavy-handed police state, that he rigged elections and muzzled the press whereas others emphasize that his balanced policy brought stability to Azerbaijan.
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 and Industry University), where he studied architecture. In 1949 and 1950, he studied at the USSR Ministry of State Security Higher School in Leningrad. Aliyev's official biography also stated that he studied at Baku State University, graduating with a degree in history in 1957. According to American journalist Pete Earley, Aliyev first attended the Ministry of State Security Academy in Leningrad, graduating in 1944. He also attended senior staff professional development courses at the Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB in Moscow in 1966.
In 1948,
he married Zarifa Aliyeva. On 12 October 1955, their daughter Sevil Aliyeva was born. On 24 December 1961, their son Ilham was born. Zarifa Aliyeva died of cancer in 1985.
Early career.
Heydar Aliyev served at the Archive Department of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1941 to 1944, before his appointment to the head of General Department of the Council of People's Commissars of the Nakhchivan ASSR. H. Aliyev joined the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) in 1944. He proceeded to become the department head of State Security Committee of Azerbaijan SSR in 1950, after he graduated from Senior Staff Training School of the USSR State Security Committee. In 1954, as part of a government reform, NKGB became known as Committee for State Security, or the KGB. Aliyev rose quickly through the KGB ranks, becoming a deputy chairman of the Azerbaijani KGB in 1964, its chairman in 1967, and eventually reaching the rank of major general.
Leadership of Soviet Azerbaijan.
Aliyev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan Communist Party at its Plenary Session held on 12 July 1969, amidst a Soviet anti-corruption campaign. 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". 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, he visited Iran.
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. Aliyev became perhaps the most successful republican leader, raising the profile of the underprivileged republic and consistently promoting Azerbaijanis to senior posts.
On 22 November 1982, Yuri Andropov promoted Aliyev from candidate to full member of Soviet Politburo and appointed him to the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, responsible for transportation and social services. Aliyev thus attained the highest position ever reached by an Azerbaijani in the Soviet Union.
Aliyev was forced to resign from this position in 1987 amidst allegations of corruption made against him by Mikhail Gorbachev. Despite that, CIA report states that Heydar Aliyev became the First Deputy Chairman of USSR Council of Ministers and a full Politburo Member who publicly pledged to fight against corruption, free key state personnel and the economy of the Soviet Union from bribery. It is noted in the report that his colleagues understood his intention to deal harshly with corruption was serious and his commitment to the anti-corruption became his trademark within the Soviet Union.
From KGB to leader of Azerbaijan SSR.
As head of the KGB's branch in Azerbaijan, Aliyev ran an anti-corruption campaign. 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. Heydar Aliyev also served at the USSR Council of Ministers as the first deputy chairman in 1974–1979.
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.
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 opposed the January 1990 Soviet military crackdown in Baku, which had followed conflict regarding Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988 between Azerbaijan SSR and Armenia.
Almost immediately after this public appearance in Moscow, Aliyev left Moscow for his native Nakhchivan. Here, Aliyev reinvented himself as a moderate nationalist. He was elected to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR in Baku in October 1990. 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. He resigned that same year from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
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 the First 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.
Heydar Aliyev was elected as the leader of New Azerbaijan Party at its constituent congress organized in Nakhchivan on November 21, 1992.
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 Surat 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. 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 was in force until Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020.
Presidency.
On 3 October 1993, as a result of nationwide voting, Heydar Aliyev was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On 11 October 1998, having garnered at the elections, passed in high activeness of the population, 77 per cent 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.
Inaugurations.
On 10 October 1993, Heydar Aliyev took an oath as the third President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in a ceremony held in the Republic Palace. During the ceremony he stated:
The inauguration of President Aliyev for the second term occurred on 18 October 1998 at the Republic Palace. His inauguration coincided with the celebration of the Independence Day on 18 October. After taking the oath, Heydar Aliyev delivered his speech and declared being loyal to his oath one more time:
Domestic policy.
The Government under Aliyev's leadership carried out legal, political, and economical measures between 1993 and 2003.
Further, Commission for Legal Reforms was established, in 1998 capital punishment was abolished. The institute of the Human Rights Ombudsman was established, amnesty and pardon mechanisms were introduced. Simultaneously, the comprehensive economic reforms including the agrarian reform were carried out; the state property privatization was initiated; the industrial and agricultural crises were lifted.
Constitutional reform.
Constitutional Commission was assembled by Heydar Aliyev in June 1995 in order to substitute 1978 Azerbaijan SSR Constitution. The first draft was ready in October for public debate and the final version composed of 5 chapters, 12 sections and 147 articles, was confirmed according to results of popular referendum held on November 12, 1995. As a result, separation of power was provided among 3 divisions: legislative (Milli Majlis), executive (President) and judicial (courts).
President Heydar Aliyev suggested amendments to the Constitution of Azerbaijan in June 2002. The first amendment to the Constitution of Azerbaijan was approved as the result of the referendum that took place in August 2002. Consequently, 39 amendments to 23 articles of the Constitution of Azerbaijan were made, proportional party-list elections to Parliament was abolished; transferring presidential power to Prime Minister instead of Chairman of Milli Majlis in case of resignation of President was confirmed; simple majority was preferred in the procedure of calculating the results of presidential elections; citizens, courts and Ombudsman of Azerbaijan received right to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan.
Abolition of Death Penalty.
Heydar Aliyev requested the elimination of the death penalty on 3 February 1998. In his speech addressed to Milli Majlis, Aliyev stated: "I am convinced that the abolition of the death penalty is a crucial step in the humanization of criminal justice policy, moreover it is an important stage in the reform of the legal system as a whole. Taking into consideration all the facts, I am submitting a draft law on amendments and additions to the Criminal, Criminal-Procedure, and Corrective Labour Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the abolition of capital punishment in the Republic of Azerbaijan in accordance with Article 96 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the discussion.” Milli Majlis approved the draft law, so on 10 February 1998 the “Law on Amendments and Additions to the Criminal, Criminal-Procedural and Corrective Labour Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the elimination of the death penalty in the Republic of Azerbaijan” was adopted. As a result, capital punishment was replaced with life imprisonment.
Azerbaijan joined the “Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty” on 22 January 1999.
Establishment of Ombudsman Institution.
Heydar Aliyev issued a decree on “Measures for Ensuring Human and Civil Rights and Freedoms” on February 22, 1998. State Program on "Protection of Human Rights" was confirmed by the Presidential Order dated 18 June 1998. Ombudsman institution in Azerbaijan was established based on this State Program and commitments before CoE according to the Constitutional Law “On the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan” adopted on 28 December 2001 and Presidential Decree dated 5 March 2002 on implementation of this law. Elmira Süleymanova was appointed as the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) among 3 nominees requested by later President Heydar Aliyev according to the Decision No. 362 of the Milli Majlis on July 2, 2002.
Agrarian and land reform.
Agrarian reforms implemented during the presidency of Heydar Aliyev can be divided into 2 phases:
Foreign policy.
During the presidency of Heydar Aliyev, the foreign policy of Azerbaijan was rebuilt and transformed into a balanced policy. The bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and other countries, as well as cooperation with international organizations, started to deepen.
Oil strategy.
Heydar Aliyev used the oil potential of Azerbaijan to avoid the difficulties his country faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union by attracting foreign investment into Azerbaijan. After a series of negotiations took place in Baku, Istanbul and Houston over a year,“Agreement on the Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri and Chirag Fields and the Deep Water Portion of the Gunashli Field in the Azerbaijan Sector of the Caspian Sea” was signed in Baku on September 20, 1994, by the Government of Azerbaijan and the consortium of 11 oil companies from 6 countries (USA, UK, Russia, Norway, Turkey, Saudi Arabia) in the presence of Heydar Aliyev.
State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established by the Presidential Decree of Heydar Aliyev in December 1999 to gather the income gained from oil profit with the aim of financing social and economic projects. As a result of oil strategy developed by Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijani oil was planned to be carried through different routes as Baku-Supsa, BTC, etc. In order to export Azerbaijani oil to the European market, the presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey agreed on constructing Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 1998 in Ankara. The ground-breaking ceremony of BTC took place in September 2002 with the participation of Heydar Aliyev, Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Edward Shevardnadze.
To export Azerbaijani crude oil to the Novorossiysk port of Russia was decided by the contract signed in Moscow on February 18, 1996, transportation of oil through this route was realized in October 1997. Establishment of the alternative Baku-Supsa route was agreed on March 8, 1996, by Heydar Aliyev and Edward Shevardnadze. This route started to operate in April 1999.
Death and successor.
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. He was buried at the Alley of Honor cemetery in Baku.
Heydar Aliyev's son Ilham Aliyev won the presidential election of 15 October 2003 but international observers again criticized the contest as falling well below expected standards. This transfer of power became the first case of top-level succession in the former Soviet Union.
Honours.
Throughout his life, Heydar Aliyev was awarded a number of state orders and medals, international awards, elected honourable 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 Kyiv, Ukraine, Aliyev received Ukraine's highest award, the Yaroslav Mudry Order, and on 13 April 1999, Turkey's highest honour, 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 St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called—Russia's supreme award. A statue of Heydar Aliyev has been unveiled in a Tašmajdan Park in Belgrade whose renovation was aided by 2 million euros ($2.9 million) from the Azerbaijani government.