Today is the Day of Remembrance for Heydar Aliyev

December 12 marks 22 years since the passing of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev.

BAKU.WS reminds that 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 Technical School in 1939, he enrolled in the Architecture Department of the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now the Azerbaijan State University of Oil and Industry), but the beginning of World War II prevented him from completing his education.

From 1941 to 1944, Heydar Aliyev initially worked as the head of the classified section of the archives department at the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and then as the head of the general department in the Council of People's Commissars of the Nakhchivan ASSR.

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

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, he 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 was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for 22 years. From 1974 to 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 as a 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. While working in this position, Heydar Aliyev led the most important spheres of 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 appeared at the representative office of Azerbaijan in Moscow in connection with the bloody tragedy perpetrated by Soviet troops in Baku on the night of January 19-20, demanding punishment for the organizers and perpetrators of the crime committed against the Azerbaijani people. In protest against the duplicitous policy of the USSR leadership regarding 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 went to Nakhchivan two days later, and in the same year, he was elected 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 Council of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and based on the relevant legislation, became Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He worked in this position until 1993.

At the founding conference of the "New Azerbaijan" party, held on November 21, 1992, in 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, so the Azerbaijani people demanded the return of Heydar Aliyev to power, and the then leadership of the country was forced to invite him to Baku.

On June 15, 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and from June 24, he began to exercise the powers of the President 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 public participation, he received 76.1% of the votes and was again elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

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

On December 12, 2003, the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, died 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 awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, as well as the highest awards of various countries and honorary titles from prestigious