24th Dec. marks 61st birthday of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev

Baku, The Gulf Observer: Today marks the 61st birthday of the President of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, media reports.

Ilham Heydar Aliyev was born on December 24, 1961, in Baku. In 1967-1977 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.