Today marks the birthday of the national leader of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was born in the city of Nakhchivan on May 10, 1923 ,100 years ago.
In 1939, after graduating from Nakhchivan Pedagogical School he entered Azerbaijan Industrial Institute, Faculty of Architecture, but the outbreak of the World War II prevented him from completing his education.
In 1941-1944, Heydar Aliyev headed a secret division at the Archive Department of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and then served as head of the General Department of the Council of People's Commissars of Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In May 1944, he was sent to work at state security bodies. After graduating from the USSR State Security Committee`sSenior Staff Training School in Leningrad in 1949-1950, Heydar Aliyev was appointed as department head at the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan SSR in 1950.
In 1957, he graduated from Azerbaijan State University, Faculty of History. In 1958, Heydar Aliyev was appointed as head of the Counter-Intelligence Department of the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan SSR and was promoted to deputy chairman of the State Security Committee in 1964.
In 1967, he was elected as chairman of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of Azerbaijan SSR and was promoted to the rank of a major general. Heydar Aliyev was elected as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan at its Plenary Session held on 12 July 1969.
For twenty-two years, Heydar Aliyev had been a member of the Supreme Soviets of the USSR and Azerbaijan SSR. From 1974 to 1979, he held the post of first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers.
In October 1987, in protest at the policy pursued by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev, Heydar Aliyev resigned from his posts.
On January 21, immediately after the Soviet troops committed the bloody tragedy in Baku on the night of 19-20 January 1990, Heydar Aliyev visited the office of Azerbaijan`s representation in Moscow. He demanded punishment for the organizers and perpetrators of the crime against the people of Azerbaijan. In protest at the USSR leadership`s hypocritical policy towards the conflict that broke out in Karabakh, Heydar Aliyev left the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in July, 1991.
Having returned to Baku on July 20, 1990, Heydar Aliyev left for Nakhchivan two days later where he was elected as a member of the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1991, Heydar Aliyev was elected as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan and in accordance with the legislation as deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He held this post until 1993.
On November 21, 1992, Heydar Aliyev was elected as chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party at its founding conference in Nakhchivan.
In May-June 1993, when Azerbaijan was on the verge of civil war and faced the risk of losing independence, the people of Azerbaijan demanded that Heydar Aliyev be brought to power. The then leadership of Azerbaijan was forced to invite Heydar Aliyev to Baku. On June 15, 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and on June 24 took office as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev was elected as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in a nationwide voting held on October 3, 1993.
In a high turnout election on October 11, 1998, Heydar Aliyev was re-elected as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with 76.1 percent of votes. Having agreed to run for the presidential office in the October 15, 2003 election, he then withdrew his candidacy in favor of Ilham Aliyev in connection with health problems.
On December 12, 2003, national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev passes away and was laid to rest at the Alley of Honors in Baku on December 15.
Heydar Aliyev was awarded the numerous medals, received the title of the Hero of the Socialist Labor twice as well as high awards of foreign countries, and honorary titles of prestigious universities worldwide.
On September 29, 2022, President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on declaring 2023 as the Year of Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan. With another decree signed by the head of state on November 28, 2022, the Action Plan for declaring 2023 the Year of Heydar Aliyev in the Republic of Azerbaijan was approved. According to the Action Plan, various events are held in the country and abroad in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Great Leader's birth. The events will continue until the end of the year.
Memories of Heydar Aliyev
A series of memories are collected in the book 'Going ahead. On the 90th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev,' published in 2013 by Vestik Kavkaza with support from the Heydar Aliyev Fund.
Yevgeny Primakov
"He was the first from the Transcaucasus to enter the Politburo,was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. This might even cause jealousy from his neighbors. However, Aliyev’s nomination to Moscow was a well-deserved, right decision,” Russian diplomat, former foreign minister and prime minister Yevgeny Primakov said on the pages of the book.
"I know that Yuri Andropov treated him very well. And not just because of Heydar Aliyev's outstanding qualities, but also because he headed the Azerbaijani KGB. Obviously, it was also due to human sympathy for Heydar Aliyev. Once (when Aliyev was still a Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan) we were driving in a car, and Andropov, who was resting in the North Caucasus then, called him. The security guard and I got out of the car. I don’t know what they were talking about, but the fact that Andropov called him was significant," Primakov added.
Shimon Peres
According to the former President and Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel peace prize laureate Shimon Peres, Heydar Aliyev was a courageous leader and a man of vision. "I had the pleasure of meeting President Heydar Aliyev at the World Economic Forum in Davos, when the Contract of the Century was signed. We had the opportunity to hold a unique conversation and an informative exchange of opinions on a wide range of issues relevant to both parties, which caused my deep respect to him as a courageous and devoted leader of his country who cares about the future. I was amazed by his inexhaustible determination to achieve and secure a better future for his people and country by promoting economic growth and discovery of Azerbaijan by a new and changing world, coupled with the freedom of religion that existed in his presidency," Peres recalled.
George W. Bush
Former U.S. President George W. Bush listed the achievements achieved by independent Azerbaijan thanks to Heydar Aliyev. "His personal efforts in the establishment of current friendship relations between the United States of America and Azerbaijan, as well as defense of Azerbaijan's independence is of vital importance. Steadiness he demonstrated in the field of achievement of the just and long-term solution of Nagorno Karabakh tragedy via the peace negotiations had been of great importance in the maintenance of the peace and stability in the region. In the meantime, his position and efforts demonstrated in attraction of the large-volume foreign investments that strengthened economic development of Azerbaijan played key role. These achievements had improved lives of million Azerbaijanis and created opportunity for Azerbaijan to come into the twentieth century as the modern state," George W. Bush stressed.
