Azernews.Az

BAKU – The Azerbaijani people on Tuesday marked the birthday of the late leader, former President Heydar Aliyev, who would have turned 88.

President Ilham Aliyev and thousands of rank-and-file citizens from across the country paid tribute at the Alley of Honors in Baku where the prominent statesman was laid to rest.

A grandiose "flower holiday" was held in one of the Azerbaijani capital`s central parks on the occasion of Heydar Aliyev’s birthday. 10 million flowers were brought from 50 countries to the park outside the Heydar Aliyev Palace, and the area was decorated with the aid of local and foreign florists. Heydar Aliyev’s portrait and a pattern showing "88" were made from a variety of flowers.

President Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva and their family members attended the event.

Mrs. Aliyeva was presented a bouquet of white tulips. She was told the flowers had been cultivated for the first time in the world by the Dutch-Azerbaijan Friendship Society and the Royal General Bulbgrowers Association of the Netherlands and named after Azerbaijan’s First Lady.

Later in the day, a concert and fireworks took place at the seaside park of Baku.

Heydar Aliyev, who led Azerbaijan for 30 years and left an indelible mark on the country’s history, was honored not only in Azerbaijan but also in a number of other countries populated by Azerbaijanis.

Heydar Aliyev’s merits include strengthening Azerbaijan’s independence and sovereignty, economic growth and the country’s participation in projects of a global scale, the peace process on settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with Armenia and the strengthening of the Azerbaijani Diaspora. His multi-faceted political activity had given a powerful incentive to Azerbaijan’s comprehensive development and set the course for its irreversible ascent.

Biography
Aliyev was born in Nakhchivan to a worker’s family in 1923. A graduate of the Azerbaijan State University history department, he held high posts in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in 1941-1944. He started working for security agencies in the 1940s and acted as Chairman of the State Security Committee of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1967-1969.

Aliyev headed Azerbaijan beginning in 1969. He also held top posts in the Soviet Union’s leadership from 1982 till 1987. However, in 1987, as a result of internal bickering in the USSR leadership, Aliyev resigned from his positions in the Political Bureau and the Council of Ministers.

Aliyev has done his best for Azerbaijan while he worked for five years in Moscow and spoke out during the January 1990 tragedy, when hundreds of civilians were brutally slain by the Soviet troops on the streets of Baku. Aliyev courageously accused the USSR leadership of killing innocent people and demanded to punish those responsible for the killings.

He resigned from the USSR Communist Party in July 1991.

Aliyev acted as Chairman of the Nakhchivan Supreme Majlis (parliament) from 1991-1993.

His return to power in 1993 averted the threat of civil war. He was then elected president of the newly independent Azerbaijan. In October 1998 Aliyev was re-elected for another term.

Heydar Aliyev died of heart disease at the age of 80 in a hospital in Cleveland, United States on December 12, 2003.