Today marks the 62nd birthday of the President of Azerbaijan, Victorious Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ilham Aliyev, Report informs.
Ilham Heydar Aliyev was born on December 24, 1961, in Baku. In 1967–1978, he studied at the secondary school No. 6 in Baku. In 1977–1982, he studied at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). After graduating, he continued with postgraduate studies at MGIMO. In 1985, he defended his dissertation and received the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences, and in 1985–1990, he was a teacher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. From 1991 to 1994, he conducted private business and headed several production and commercial enterprises.
From 1994 to August 2003, he was the vice president and then the first vice president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan. He took an active part in the implementation of national leader Heydar Aliyev's oil strategy. He was elected a member of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) in 1995 and 2000. He has been the president of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan since 1997. He was elected deputy chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party in 1999, first deputy chairman in 2001, and chairman of the party in 2005. In 2001–2003, he was the head of the delegation of the Azerbaijani Parliament to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In January 2003, he was elected Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and a member of the PACE Bureau. After the approval of the Parliament on August 4, 2003, he was appointed Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In this regard, his MP mandate was terminated.
Ilham Aliyev was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on October 15, 2003. More than 76 percent of voters voted for Ilham Aliyev in the election. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary diploma and medal of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Ilham Aliyev, who won 88.73% of the vote in the October 15, 2008 elections, was re-elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the election held on October 9, 2013, Ilham Aliyev won 84.54% of the vote and got re-elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the election held on April 11, 2018, Ilham Aliyev was re-elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with 86.02% of the vote.
Ilham Aliyev speaks Azerbaijani, Russian, English, French, and Turkish. He married Mehriban Aliyeva in 1983. He has three children, Leyla, Arzu, and Heydar, and five grandchildren.
On September 27, 2020, in response to a large-scale provocation by the Armenian Armed Forces on the frontlines, the Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive, later called the Iron Fist. The 44-day Patriotic War ended with the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from occupation thanks to the leadership, diplomatic skills, principled attitude and iron will of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan got ensured. Thus, under the Supreme Command of President Ilham Aliyev, our army, implementing the unfulfilled UN Security Council resolutions, cleared Karabakh of the enemy in a short time. All this results from Ilham Aliyev's far-sighted policy, commanding skills, political, economic, and military reforms implemented in Azerbaijan, and successful foreign policy.
On September 19 of this year, local anti-terrorist measures were launched in the region in order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Declaration, prevent large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and withdraw the Armenian armed forces units from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, ensure the safety of civilians returning to the liberated territories and the civil workers and military personnel involved in the reconstruction work, and restore the constitutional structure of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
During the measures that lasted for a little more than 23 hours, the positions of the Armenian armed forces on the front line and in-depth and long-term firing points, as well as combat vehicles and military objects, were destroyed by the use of high-precision weapons. The enemy raised a white flag. With this, the constitutional structure was restored in all territories of Azerbaijan.
On October 15, President Ilham Aliyev visited the city of Khankandi, as well as the Khojavand, Shusha, Khojaly, and Aghdara districts. The head of state also visited the Askaran fortress and raised the Azerbaijani flag there.
The orders, awards, and honorary titles awarded to President Ilham Aliyev are:
The Star of Romania Order (October 11, 2004)
King Abdul Aziz Order of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (March 8, 2005)
The Order of Alexander Nevsky, 1st class, of the Academy of Problems of Security, Defense and Order of the Russian Federation (April 11, 2005)
Heydar Aliyev Order of the Republic of Azerbaijan (April 28, 2005)
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, first-degree Order of the Russian Orthodox Church (September 14, 2005)
"Sheikhulislam" Order of the Caucasus Muslims Board (December 22, 2005)
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic (January 29, 2007)
Grand Cross of Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (February 26, 2008)
The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of 1st Class of Ukraine (May 22, 2008)
Mubarak Al-Kabeer Order of the State of Kuwait (February 10, 2009)
Order of the Three Stars (Commander of the Grand Cross) of the Latvian Republic (August 10, 2009)
First-degree Order of Honor of the Russian Orthodox Church (April 24, 2010)
The National Order "Faithful Service" in rank of Grand Cross Special Order of Romania (April 18, 2011)
The National Order "Faithful Service" of Romania (April 18, 2011)
Order of Stara Planina of the Republic of Bulgaria (November 14, 2011)
Order of "Ismoili Somoni" of Tajikistan (July 12, 2012)
Order of Friendship of Peoples of Belarus (August 28, 2012)
Order of the Republic of Serbia (2nd class) (February 22, 2013)
Order of State of the Republic of Turkiye (November 12, 2013)
Order of Liberty of Ukraine (November 18, 2013)
The Supreme Order of the Turkic World (November 12, 2021)
Honorary academic titles
Honorary Doctor of Moscow State University of International Relations (February 7, 2004)
Honorary Professor of L. N. Gumilev Eurasian National University of Kazakhstan (March 1, 2004)
Honorary Doctor of Kirikkale University of Türkiye (March 25, 2004)
Honorary Doctor of Bilkent University and Ihsan Dogramaci Prize for International Relations for Peace of Türkiye (April 14, 2004)
Honorary Doctor of Petroleum and Gas University of Ploesti of Romania (October 12, 2004)
Honorary Professor of University of National and World Economy of Bulgaria (September 23, 2005)
Honorary Doctor of Kyung Hee University of South Korea (April 24, 2007)
Honorary Doctor of the University of Jordan (July 29, 2007)
Honorary Doctor of Social Sciences of Corvinus University of Budapest of Hungary (February 18, 2008)
Honorary Professor of Moscow State University of the Russian Federation (February 21, 2008)
Honorary Doctor of Kyiv National University named after Taras Shevchenko of Ukraine (May 22, 2008)
Honorary Professor of Magtymguly Turkmen State University of Turkmenistan (November 28, 2008)
Honorary Doctor of Baku State University of Azerbaijan (November 2, 2009)
Honorary Professor of Belarus State University (November 12, 2009)
Honorary Doctor of Tajik National University (October 16, 2014)
Honorary Professor of History of Renmin University of China (December 11, 2015)
Awards from sports organizations
6th Dan Black Belt and certificate of World Taekwondo Federation (October 10, 2003)
Special Award of the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) (April 3, 2004)
Olympic Order of the International Olympic Committee (April 19, 2004)
Special Award of the European Amateur Boxing Association (May 1, 2004)
"Grand Cordon" Order of Merit of the International Military Sports Council (May 27, 2005)
Honorary decoration of the International Confederation of Sport Organizations of CIS countries (September 26, 2005)
"Sport Legend" Order of the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) (September 17, 2007)
The highest award of Belarus National Olympic Committee (October 26, 2007)
Olympic Order of Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee (December 27, 2007)
Honorary Diploma of 9th Dan of the World Karate Federation (March 20, 2008)
Badge of Honor of the European Fair Play Movement (May 15, 2009)
Paralympic Honor award of the International Paralympic Committee (June 26, 2015)
Report News Agency congratulates President Ilham Aliyev on his 62nd birthday and wishes the Supreme Commander-in-Chief a long life, good health and success in his endeavors!