2020.12.12
12 December is the commemoration day of National Leader Heydar Aliyev
Today, 17 years pass since the death of national leader Heydar Aliyev.
The great leader Heydar Aliyev, the architect and founder of the Azerbaijani state, holds special place among the geniuses with his strength, intelligence, political will and wisdom.
Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was born on 10 May 1923 in the city of Nakhchivan, Republic of Azerbaijan. After graduating from the USSR State Security Committee`s (KGB) Senior Staff Training School in Leningrad (presently St. Petersburg) in 1949-1950, Heydar Aliyev was appointed as department head at the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan SSR in 1950. In 1958, Heydar Aliyev was designated as head of the Counter-Intelligence Department of the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan SSR and was promoted to deputy chairman of the State Security Committee in 1964. In 1966, Heydar Aliyev completed senior staff professional development courses at the high school named after F.E.Dzierżyńsky in Moscow. In 1967, he was elected as chairman of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of Azerbaijan SSR and was promoted to the rank of a major general.
Heydar Aliyev was elected as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan at its Plenary Session held on 12 July 1969.
Heydar Aliyev had been a member of the Supreme Soviets of the USSR and Azerbaijan SSR. From 1974 to 1979, he held the post of first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers.
In 1976, Heydar Aliyev was a candidate to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and was elected as its member in December 1982 and then appointed as First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR. During his tenure, Heydar Aliyev was responsible for vital sectors of the USSR`s economic, social and cultural life.
In October 1987, in protest at the policy pursued by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and personally by Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev, Heydar Aliyev resigned from his posts.
Having returned to Baku on 20 July 1990, Heydar Aliyev left for Nakhchivan two days later, where he was elected as a member of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
In May-June 1993, when Azerbaijan was at the verge of civil war and loss of independence, the people of Azerbaijan demanded to bring Heydar Aliyev to power. The leadership of Azerbaijan was forced to invite Heydar Aliyev to Baku.
In 1991, Heydar Aliyev was elected as chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan, and in accordance with the legislation as deputy chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He held this post until 1993.
On 15 June 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected as chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan, and on 24 June held the office of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On 3 October 1993, in a nationwide voting which saw high turnout, Heydar Aliyev was elected as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Having agreed to run for the presidential office at the 15 October 2003 election, he then withdrew his candidacy in favor of Ilham Aliyev in connection with health problems.
On 12 December 2003, national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev passed awat at Cleveland Hospital in the United States of America and was buried at the Alley of Honor in Baku on 15 December.
Heydar Aliyev was awarded the former USSR Lenin Order five times, Order of Red Star, and numerous medals, received the title of the Hero of the Socialistic Labor twice, as well as high awards of different countries, and honorary titles of worldwide prestigious universities.
Heydar Aliyev, a brilliant personality with noteworthy dignities in the history of the Azerbaijani people, had focused on the issue of army building during his governing of Azerbaijan both in former Soviet Union and in the years of independence. Thanks to this resilient foundation laid by the Great Leader, our victorious army under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, who "fulfilled his father's will", returned our occupied lands and gifted the Azerbaijani people the triumph of victory. Today we commemorate the memory of the Great Leader with deep love and pride. We are confident that his spirit is now happy and that independent Azerbaijan, which he served with great honor until his last breath, will continue to prosper and develop.
