From October 1993 to October 2003, Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev, popularly known as Gaydar Aliev, was the third President of Azerbaijan. He was a prominent politician as president of his country, but his influence on Azerbaijani politics had been building for years. He entered the Azerbaijan SSR People’s Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) as a young man and progressed fast through the ranks to Major-General. Within a few years of entering politics, he established himself as a bright, diligent, and astute politician, eventually rising to become the agency’s chairman. His political career progressed steadily, with his appointment as first secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Azerbaijan serving as the spark for his eventual ascension to the position of uncontested leader of Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that he originally enacted measures to combat corruption and acquired the trust of his population, he became known for his oppressive and dictatorial reign over time. He came to power at a period when Azerbaijan was through political and economic turmoil, and he was able to bring some economic improvement to the country at first. However, he lost favor with the Azerbaijanis as the rate of corruption and violence increased.
Childhood and Adolescence
He was born in the Azerbaijani city of Nakhchyvan on May 10, 1923. His father worked for the railroad.
He attended Nakhchivan Pedagogical School for his primary education. From 1939 to 1941, he studied architecture at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy).
Career of Heydar Aliyev
He was the head of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Nakhchyvan from 1941 to 1945. In 1944, he joined the People’s Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) of the Azerbaijan SSR.
Due to changes in government objectives, the NKGB was renamed the Committee for State Security or the KGB in 1954. He steadily progressed through the ranks of the Azerbaijani KGB, eventually becoming its deputy chairman in 1964 and head in 1967.
In July 1969, during a Soviet anti-corruption campaign, he was elected as the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan by Leonid Brezhnev at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan.
He did everything he could to reduce the degree of corruption by putting a number of those suspected of corruption to prison. For blatant corruption, five persons were sentenced to death in 1975. His measures have a moderate level of success in combating corruption.
Soviet Azerbaijan saw significant economic growth during his leadership. At the same time, he was chastised by the public for lavishly lavishing gifts on other politicians in order to keep their good graces.
He was appointed to the position of First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers, responsible for transportation and social services, in December 1982, after becoming a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Political Bureau. As a result, he rose to become one of the Soviet Union’s top leaders.
In October 1987, he resigned from this position in protest of Mikhail Gorbachev’s claims of corruption against him. In 1990, he returned to Azerbaijan and was elected to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan as a deputy.
From 1991 to 1993, he served as Chairman of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchyvan’s Supreme Assembly and Deputy Chairman of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Supreme Soviet. In Nakhchyvan, he was elected Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party in 1992.
The existing president, Abulfaz Elchibey, went into exile in June 1993, and Aliyev took over as interim president. In October of that year, he was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in a special presidential election.
He was re-elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan five years later, in October 1998.
He initially agreed to be nominated as a contender for the presidential elections in October 2003, but he later dropped aside due to his sick health.
Achievements & Awards
In 1997, he received the Yaroslav Mudry Order, Ukraine’s highest accolade, for “exceptional contribution to the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Azerbaijan and building friendship between the Ukrainian and Azeri people.”
In 2003, he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew, Russia’s highest chivalry order, “for his outstanding personal contribution to fostering friendship and cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan.”
Personal History and Legacy
In 1948, he married Zarifa Aliyeva. His wife was a well-known ophthalmologist, a member of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, and a professor. One boy and one daughter were born to the couple. In 1985, Zarifa died of cancer.
During his later years, he began to have health problems. In 1999, he underwent a major heart bypass surgery in the United States, followed by prostate surgery and a hernia operation afterwards. He resigned from the presidency in October 2003 due to deteriorating health. Two months later, on December 12, 2003, he passed away.
Heydar Aliyev Net Worth
Heydar is one of the wealthiest World Leaders and one of the most popular. Heydar Aliyev’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.