Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev was born on 24 December 1961 in Baku.
He attended a secondary school No. 6 in Baku from 1967 to 1977.
In 1977-1982, he studied at Moscow State University of International Relations (MSUIR). In 1982, he embarked on postgraduate studies at MSUIR. In 1985, he defended a thesis to receive a PhD degree in history. From 1985 to 1990, he gave lectures at Moscow State University of International Relations.
In 1991-1994, he was engaged in a private business sector and headed several private industrial and commercial enterprises.
From 1994 to August 2003, he was vice-president and first vice-president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). He has been actively involved in the implementation of national leader Heydar Aliyev’s oil strategy.
In 1995 and 2000, he was elected to the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On 4 August 2003, following the approval of the Milli Majlis, he was appointed as Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This terminated his power as a member of parliament.
He has been president of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan since 1997.
In 1999, he was elected as deputy chairman, in 2001 as first deputy chairman and in 2005 as chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party.
From 2001 to 2003, he headed the Azerbaijani Parliamentary delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In January 2003, he was elected as deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and a member of the PACE Bureau. In 2004, he was awarded a medal and certificate of an honorary member of PACE.
On 15 October 2003, Ilham Aliyev was elected as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with more than 76 percent of votes. On 15 October 2008, Ilham Aliyev was elected for the second term as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, after gaining 88.73 per cent of votes. As a result of the presidential election held on 9 October 2013, Ilham Aliyev was re-elected as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with 84.54 per cent of votes. In the election held on April 11, 2018, Ilham Aliyev gained 86.02 percent of votes and has been re-elected as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Mr. Ilham Aliyev is fluent in Azerbaijani, Russian, English, French, and Turkish languages. He is married and has three children and five grandchildren.