Today marks the birth anniversary of Azerbaijan’s National Leader, Heydar Aliyev.

Axar.az reports this year marks the 103rd anniversary of Heydar Aliyev’s birth.

Heydar Aliyev was born on May 10, 1923, in Nakhchivan. After graduating from the Nakhchivan Pedagogical Technical School in 1939, he enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute, (now the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University), but was unable to complete his studies due to the outbreak of World War II.

Starting in 1941, he worked in the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs and the Council of People’s Commissars of the Nakhchivan ASSR. In 1944, he began serving in the state security agencies, where he steadily rose through the ranks. In 1964, he became deputy chairman of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR, and in 1967, its chairman, eventually attaining the rank of major general. During those years, he also received specialized higher education in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, and graduated from the History Faculty of Azerbaijan State University in 1957.

In July 1969, Heydar Aliyev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, becoming the leader of the republic. In December 1982, he was elected a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and appointed First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, becoming one of the top leaders of the Soviet Union. For 20 years, Heydar Aliyev served as a deputy of the Supreme Soviets of both the USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR, and for five years held the post of First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers.

In October 1987, he resigned from his positions in protest against the political course pursued by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the Communist Party leadership.

Following the January 20 tragedy in Baku in 1990, Heydar Aliyev condemned the actions of Soviet troops and demanded punishment for those responsible. In July 1991, he left the Communist Party in protest against Moscow’s policy regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

After returning to Azerbaijan in July 1990, Heydar Aliyev first lived in Baku and later in Nakhchivan, and was elected a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan the same year. From 1991 to 1993, he served as chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and deputy chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 1992, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party at the party’s founding congress held in Nakhchivan.

On October 3, 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan through a nationwide vote. He was re-elected on October 11, 1998, receiving 76.1 percent of the vote in elections marked by high voter turnout. Although he agreed to stand in the presidential election held on October 15, 2003, Heydar Aliyev later withdrew from the race due to health problems.

He passed away on December 12, 2003, at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States and was laid to rest at the Alley of Honor in Baku on December 15.

Heydar Aliyev received numerous state decorations and international awards and was awarded honorary doctorates by universities in various countries.

On September 29, 2022, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree declaring 2023 the “Year of Heydar Aliyev” in Azerbaijan, with numerous commemorative events held both at home and abroad.

One of Heydar Aliyev’s greatest aspirations was the liberation of Karabakh and the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity — a goal later achieved under President Ilham Aliyev.

Today, large-scale reconstruction and demining efforts continue across the liberated territories of Karabakh and East Zangezur.