Ilham Aliyev

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**Ilham Aliyev**
Image:Ilham aliyev.jpg
Became President:	October 31, 2003
Predecessor:	Heydar Aliyev
Date of Birth:	December 24, 1961
Place of Birth:	Baku

Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev (Azerbaijani in full: İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev) (born December 24, 1961) has been president of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party since 2003.

Ilham was born in Baku as the son of Heydar Aliyev, who became head of the Azerbaijani KGB when Ilham was six and later party secretary for Azerbaijan. After completing school, Ilham entered the history department of the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO), receiving a PhD in history and international relations, before starting to teach at MGIMO.

He expected to be appointed to an important diplomatic post abroad, but the collapse of the USSR interfered with his plans. From 1991 to 1994 Ilham was a businessman in Moscow and Istanbul. Media reports soon spread of his highliving, involving gambling and women, and rumors of heavy debts to a Turkish casino owner. Heydar Aliyev was reportedly unhappy at his son's image as a playboy and the harm he felt this would do to his prospects of succeeding him. Heydar Aliyev then ordered the closure of all casinos in Azerbaijan.

In May 1994, Heydar Aliyev arranged for Ilham Aliyev to be appointed vice-president of the State Oil Company (SOCAR). The following year he was elected to parliament and later became president of the National Olympic Committee (still incumbent) and head of the Azerbaijan delegation to the Council of Europe. In August 2003, two months prior to the presidential elections, he was appointed prime minister . Some claim his father was already dead and that the signature was therefore faked. The domestic opposition heavily criticized his appointment.

The official results of the October 15, 2003 elections gave victory to Ilham Aliyev, it is claimed with 77.97% of the votes. However, the domestic opposition refused to accept the results and staged mass protests. Hundreds of demonstrators were beaten, and later arrested. Ilham Aliyev took office on October 31, despite opposition complaints. The elections received harsh criticism from the international community too. Many international observers noted that the elections fell short of international standards and were accompanied by voter intimidation, unequal campaign opportunities for the candidates, widespread violations of the electoral laws and process. The OSCE International Election Observation Mission noted a number of irregularities in the counting and tabulation.

Human Rights Watch commented on these elections: "Human Rights Watch research found that the government has heavily intervened in the campaigning process in favor of Prime Minister Ilham Aliev, son of current President Heidar Aliev. The government has stacked the Central Election Commission and local election commission with its supporters, and banned local non-governmental organizations from monitoring the vote. As the elections draw nearer, government officials have openly sided with the campaign of Ilham Aliev, constantly obstructing opposition rallies and attempting to limit public participation in opposition events. In some cases, local officials have closed all the roads into town during opposition rallies, or have extended working and school hours - on one occasion, even declaring a Sunday work day - to prevent participation in opposition rallies." (source: HTML format)

OSCE's final report (source: HTML format or PDF format))

During Aliyev's presidency Azerbaijan's situation with human rights has not improved. No mass meeting of the opposition has been allowed since his election. The situation with freedom of speech also aggravated as the government exerted pressures on opposition and independent press. As a result, Azerbaijan, previously listed in Freedom House ratings as partly free, was re-ranked among not free countries. The recent murder of Elmar Huseynov, the editor-in-chief of Monitor journal, one of the most popular independent journals, widely known for its harsh criticism of Azerbaijanian authorities, added even more criticism and pressure on the government and on Ilham Aliyev from the domestic opposition and international community. In March 2005 under continued pressure from the international community, especially the Council of Europe, Ilham Aliyev released from prison many prominent members of the opposition, arrested following the October 2003 election fraud. On March 26, 2005 Ilham Aliyev was officially elected as the ruling New Azerbaijan Party chairman. The opposition proclaimed this as a violation of state laws, because according to the law on political parties, the president should have no party affiliation.