Heydar Aliyev

President of Azerbaijan

Heydar Alirza oğlu Aliyev 10 May 1923 Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union

12 December 2003(2003-12-12) (80) Cleveland, Ohio, United States

10 October 1993 – 31 October 2003 Acting: 24 June – 10 October 1993

Soviet-Azerbaijani politician; President of Azerbaijan (1993-2003) Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, IPA:  ; Russian: Гейда́р Али́евич Али́ев , romanized: Geydár Alíyevich Alíyev, IPA:  ; 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. Aliyev's regime in Azerbaijan has been described as dictatorial, authoritarian, and repressive. He ran a heavy-handed police state where elections were rigged and dissent was repressed.