Ilham Aliyev

President of Azerbaijan

İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev 24 December 1961 Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union

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Incumbent

4th president of Azerbaijan This article is part of a series about Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan Incumbent Presidency Domestic 2009 constitutional referendum Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Gulargate Launching of Azerspace-1/Africasat-1a Halting of the Khazar Islands Project 2015 European Games 2015 Baku residence building fire 2015 Gunashli Platform fire 2016 Azerbaijani constitutional referendum Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games 2018 Baku fire Foreign Inauguration of Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline Inauguration of Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway 2008 Mardakert clashes 2010 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes 2010 Mardakert clashes 2012 Armenian–Azerbaijani border clashes Ramil Safarov repatriation Caviar diplomacy 2014 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes 2014 Armenian Mil Mi-24 shootdown 2016 April clashes Gyunnut Operation Zamira Hajiyeva controversy Inauguration of Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea 2020 Tovuz clashes Second Nagorno-Karabakh War 2020 Russian Mil Mi-24 shootdown 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement Opposition 2003 Baku protests Our Azerbaijan bloc Elmar Huseynov Nida Civic Movement 2013 Baku protests Ilgar Mammadov Leyla Yunus Rasul Jafarov Intiqam Aliyev Khadija Ismayilova Mehman Huseynov Operation Nardaran 2018 Ganja protests 2019 Baku protests Incidents 2007 Baku terrorist plot 2008 Abu Bakr Mosque attack 2009 ASOA shooting Presidential campaigns 2008 presidential election 2008 presidential election 2013 presidential election 2018 presidential election Personal life Heydar Aliyev‎ (father) Zarifa Aliyeva‎ (mother) Jalal Aliyev (uncle) Mehriban Aliyev‎a (wife) Leyla Aliyeva‎ (daughter) Arzu Aliyeva‎ (daughter) Panama Papers vte Ilham Heydar Oğlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azeri dictator Heydar Aliyev, Ilham Aliyev became president of Azerbaijan in 2003 following his father's death, in an election defined by election fraud. Azerbaijan is oil-rich, which has strengthened the stability of Aliyev's regime and enriched ruling elites in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's oil wealth has made it possible for the country to host lavish international events, as well as engage in extensive lobbying efforts. The Aliyev family have enriched themselves through their ties to state-run businesses. They own significant parts of at several major Azerbaijani banks, construction firms and telecommunications firms, well as partially own the country's oil and gas industries. Much of the wealth is hidden through an elaborate network of offshore companies. In 2017, the Azerbaijani laundromat scandal, which was a complex money-laundering scheme to pay off prominent European politicians to deflect criticism of Aliyev and promote a positive image of his regime. Aliyev rules an authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan, as elections are not free and fair, power is concentrated in the hands of Aliyev and his extended family, corruption is rampant, and human rights violations are severe (which include torture, arbitrary arrests, as well as harassment of journalists and non-governmental organizations). The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict continued sporadically during Aliyev's presidency, culminating into a full-scale war in 2020, which ended with a ceasefire agreement, by which most of the territory of the Republic of Artsakh, established during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, was regained by Azerbaijan.