Heydər Əliyev

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Heydər Əliyev on a visit to Washington in 1997

Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev ( Azerbaijani-Cyrillic Һeјдəр Əлирза оғлу Əлијeв Hejdär Älirsa oglu Älijew , Russian Гейдар Алиевич Алиев Geidar Alijewitsch Aliyev , also Gaydar Aliev , * 10. May 1923 in Nakhchivan , then Soviet Union , today Azerbaijan ; † 12. December 2003 in Cleveland , Ohio ) was for many years the most important politician first of the Azerbaijani Soviet Republic and then of the independent Republic of Azerbaijan: From 1969 to 1982 he was First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijani SSR and from 1982 to 1987 a member of the Political Bureau of the CPSU and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union , he was president of independent Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003. A personality cult was built around him during his lifetime.

Life

Ascent in Azerbaijan

Allegedly Əliyev comes from a working class family. But that can also be a legend attributed to his followers . The statements of supporters and opponents differ so much that his official biography is questioned.

After completing a degree in history at the Azerbaijan State University, Əliyev began his career in 1941 in various offices of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic . From 1944 he worked for the NKVD , in 1967 he became the first Azerbaijani head of the KGB in Azerbaijan. In July 1969 he was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU in Azerbaijan.

According to a report by the CIA , Əliyev received little attention from the West due to Azerbaijan's minor political importance at the time.

At the center of the power of the USSR

In December 1982 he left this office to take on important positions in the Soviet government in Moscow . Promoted by Leonid Brezhnev , he rose to the highest political body in the USSR in 1982, he became a full member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from November 22, 1982 to October 21, 1987. At the same time, he was from 1982 to 1987 first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers , Government of the USSR, in the cabinets of Kosygin , Tikhonov and Ryzhkov . In 1987 he had to leave the Politburo and the Council of Ministers because he did not support Mikhail Gorbachev's reform policy .

“Aliyev belonged, as already mentioned, to the group around Brezhnev - a group characterized by deep corruption, a penchant for every conceivable luxury and corruption in general. She displayed this corruption openly and provocatively, without the slightest shame. These apartment blocks, which are in the most beautiful and representative part [Bakus], can serve as an example. Aliyev distributed the apartments personally, according to a list he had drawn up himself - and also handed over the keys himself. The distribution criterion was very simple: the best apartments were given the closest relatives, followed by cousins ​​and high-ranking personalities of the Aliyev clan. In these latitudes, as a thousand years ago, tribal ties are still the most important. I saw the inside of one of these houses. The apartment owner was employed in the local parliament, but the only important thing was that he was Aliyev's cousin. This man, who officially earned only pennies, had whole batteries of electronic devices on the walls [...]. He was enthroned complacently with his family. The electronic devices blinked at him with their colorful eyes from all sides. "

- Kapuściński : Imperium , p. 180f.

President of Azerbaijan

Postage stamp from Azerbaijan dated 2006
Postage stamp from Azerbaijan dated 2001: Heydər Əliyev and Vladimir Putin

After Azerbaijan declared independence, he turned away from communist ideology and resigned from the Communist Party on July 19, 1991. The Azerbaijani CP disbanded in the period that followed and renamed itself the Popular Front New Azerbaijan (azerb. Yeni Azərbaycan ); Əliyev became its first chairman. From 1991 to 1993 he was executive vice-president of the Azerbaijan Supreme Council. On October 3, 1993, he was elected President of Azerbaijan, succeeding Əbülfəz Elçibəy , who had resigned because of a military rebellion. He now pursued a nationalist policy and no longer accepted Russian as the second official language after Azerbaijani . On October 11, 1998, he was re-elected in a controversial election.

In 1994, an international consortium, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), signed the first contract ("Contract of the Century") for Azerbaijan's oil and gas reserves. The Əliyev government intended to use it to exploit and export Azerbaijan's oil and gas reserves and to attract foreign investment.

A new Azerbaijani constitution was adopted on November 12, 1995 and entered into force on November 27, 1995. The adoption of a new constitution in 1995 and the abolition of the death penalty in 1998 were Əliyev's steps towards the rule of law. In 2002 the Heydər Əliyev government signed the European Convention on Human Rights . The Constitutional Court was created back in 1998.

While supporters speak of a heyday of the Azerbaijani state under Əliyev, critics believe that his government "will be remembered by the people as the most difficult time". They accuse him of having established a tribocracy - a rule of the tribes - and amassing uncanny fortunes for himself and his clan , while most of the people live in poverty.

In terms of foreign policy, Əliyev tried the difficult tightrope walk of a good relationship between Azerbaijan and the politically isolated Iran , the NATO state Turkey and the USA, as well as maintaining the old relationship with Russia . He sought the country's admission to the World Trade Organization , which resulted in the formation of a working group for Azerbaijan on July 16, 1997. Domestically, he built up an emphatically Turkish-Azerbaijani nationalism by giving priority to the country's original Turkish language and culture over younger Russian cultural influences (he did not, however, “returk” his own name).

In order to secure power for his clan, when his health deteriorated, Əliyev made his son İlham Əliyev prime minister. In a prepared statement, which he read out in October 2003, he described him as a “worthy successor” in the presidential office, whereupon promising candidates from parties close to him withdrew their candidacy and İlham could be elected president. Əliyev died on December 12, 2003 after spending four months in a heart clinic in Cleveland, USA.

Honors, awards and personality cult

After Əliyev's death, many public facilities, including Baku Airport , were named after him. In addition to numerous other honors and awards, the Azerbaijani Officers' College in Baku also bears his name.

Western journalists classify these honors as a form of personality cult : According to Lutz Kleveman, his portrait can be found in every office throughout the country. According to Thomas Goltz, Əliyev has stylized himself in the style of the French King Louis XIV as a personification of the state.

In 1997 Əliyev received the Ukrainian Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 1st class.

literature

Web links

See also

Web links

Commons : Heydər Əliyev  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Central Intelligence Agency: Geydar Aliyev: His new role in the USSR Council of Ministers. In: Research Paper. CIA, January 24, 2011, accessed September 12, 2017 .
  2. ^ Kahr Media, Fürstenfeldbruck: Country information on the death penalty, ASERBAIDSCHAN - todesstrafe.de. Retrieved April 2, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Azərbaycan Respublikası Konstitusiya Məhkəməsi. Retrieved April 2, 2017 .
  4. ↑ İlkin Sabiroğlu: WTO.az | . :: Azərbaycan və Ümumdünya Ticarət Təşkilatı ::. Retrieved June 20, 2017 .
  5. ^ Lutz Kleveman: The New Great Game. Blood and Oil in Central Asia . Grove Press, New York 2004, pp. 22 and 220.
  6. ↑ Thomas Goltz: Azerbaijan Diary. A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic. ME Sharpe Inc., Armonk NY 1998, p. 25.
  7. ↑ Ukraine recalled the award of medals to Assad and Gaddafi on apostrophe.ua on October 8, 2015; accessed on April 12, 2017 (Russian)
personal data
SURNAME Əliyev, Heydər
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Əliyev, Heydər Əlirza oğlu (full name); Äliyev, Heydär Älirza oğlu; Алиев, Гейдар Алиевич (Russian); Aliyev, Geidar Aliyevich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Azerbaijani politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Naxçıvan
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 2003
Place of death Cleveland , Ohio