It is the 103rd anniversary of the birth of Heydar Aliyev

Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the birth of national leader Heydar Aliyev — the pride of the entire Turkic world, a wise political and outstanding statesman, the architect and creator of the modern independent Azerbaijani state.

Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was born on May 10, 1923, in the city of Nakhchivan of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

After graduating from the Nakhchivan Pedagogical College in 1939, he enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University), but the outbreak of World War II prevented him from completing his education.

In 1941-1944, Heydar Aliyev worked first as head of the classified records section of the archival department of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, and then as head of the general department of the Council of People's Commissars of the Nakhchivan ASSR.

In May 1944, he was assigned to work in the state security agencies.

After studying in 1949-1950 at the Leadership Training School of the State Security Committee of the USSR in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), he was appointed in 1950 as head of a division in the State Security Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR.

In 1957, he graduated from the correspondence department of the Faculty of History at the Azerbaijan State University (now Baku State University).

In 1958, he was appointed head of the counterintelligence department of the State Security Committee, and in 1964 — deputy chairman of the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR.

In 1966, he successfully completed the Advanced Leadership Training Courses at the F.E. Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB in Moscow.

In 1967, he was appointed chairman of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR, and in the same year was awarded the rank of major general.

At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan held on June 14, 1969, Heydar Aliyev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan.

Heydar Aliyev served as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for 22 years. In 1974-1979, he held the position of deputy chairman of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Elected as a candidate member of the Politburo in 1976 and a full member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1982, Heydar Aliyev was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In this capacity, Heydar Aliyev oversaw the most important spheres of the economic, social, and cultural life of the USSR.

In October 1987, in protest against the political course pursued by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and personally by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, he resigned from his positions.

On January 21, 1990, Heydar Aliyev spoke at the Azerbaijani representative office in Moscow regarding the bloody tragedy committed by Soviet troops in Baku on the night of January 19-20, demanding punishment of the organizers and perpetrators of the crime committed against the Azerbaijani people. In protest against the duplicitous policy of the USSR leadership in connection with the acute conflict situation that had arisen in Nagorno-Karabakh, he left the ranks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Having returned to Baku on July 20, 1990, Heydar Aliyev traveled to Nakhchivan two days later and was elected that same year as a people's deputy of the Azerbaijan SSR and a people's deputy of the Nakhchivan ASSR.

On September 3, 1991, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and, pursuant to the relevant legislation, became deputy chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He served in this position until 1993.

At the founding conference of the New Azerbaijan Party held on November 21, 1992, in the city of Nakhchivan, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the party.

In May-June 1993, the country faced the threat of civil war and loss of independence, prompting the Azerbaijani people to demand the return of Heydar Aliyev to power, and the then leadership of the country was compelled to invite him to Baku.

On June 15, 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and from June 24, he began exercising the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On October 3, 1993, as a result of a nationwide vote, Heydar Aliyev was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In the elections held on October 11, 1998, with high voter turnout, he received 76.1% of the votes and was re-elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Having agreed to the nomination of his candidacy in the presidential elections held on October 15, 2003, Heydar Aliyev withdrew his candidacy in favor of Ilham Aliyev due to health problems that had arisen.

On December 12, 2003, the national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev passed away at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States of America and was buried on December 15 at the Alley of Honor in Baku.

Heydar Aliyev was awarded the Order of Lenin five times, the Order of the Red Star of the former USSR, and numerous medals; he was twice honored with the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, as well as the highest awards of various countries and honorary titles from prestigious universities.

Earlier, by a decree of President Ilham Aliyev, the year 2023 was declared the Year of Heydar Aliyev in our country.