Azernews.Az

President Ilham Aliyev has marked his 50th birthday in the frontline zone in Karabakh, an Azerbaijani region that has been under the occupation of Armenian armed forces, presidential aide Ali Hasanov said.

"President Ilham Aliyev today [December 24] attended the events held in the Karabakh region, and he marked his jubilee with his family there," said Hasanov, the Presidential Administration official in charge of social and political affairs.

President Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of a new settlement in Agjabadi, which was built for 552 people from the Lachin region displaced during the Karabakh war.

Aliyev was informed that about 13,000 IDPs live in the Takhtakorpu residential area he was visiting.

The construction of the settlement is part of the Azerbaijani president’s efforts aiming to improve living standards for IDPs.

Addressing the displaced persons, Aliyev noted that usually, he does not celebrate his birthdays.

"But this year, I decided to celebrate it together with my family. And today, I am here with my family, you are my family.

"At the same time, I am delighted to mark this date in the land of Karabakh, which is sacred for all of us," the president said.

Congratulations
US President Barack Obama has congratulated his Azerbaijani counterpart on his birthday.

Obama said in a letter that the United States and Azerbaijan have established strong relations based on common interests and mutual respect, adding that he is fully committed to boosting the vital partnership.

"We will continue closely cooperating to strengthen the energy security of Europe by the efforts of the two countries, to conduct democratic and economic reforms, to strengthen regional security," Obama wrote, adding that a special focus will be on a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Congratulatory messages also came from the leaders of Georgia, Turkey, Russia, Poland, Serbia, Bulgaria, Germany, and Jordan.

Biography
Ilham Aliyev was born on December 24, 1961 in Baku. He was admitted to the Moscow State University of International Relations (MSUIR) in 1977. In 1982, upon his graduation, Mr. Aliyev had continued his education as a postgraduate student in MSUIR. In 1985, he finalized his research and received a PhD degree in history. In 1985-1990, he gave lectures at MSUIR.

From 1991 to 1994, he led a group of private industrial-commercial enterprises.

In 1994-2003, he was the vise-president, and later the first vise-president of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR. He has been actively involved in the implementation of the oil strategy founded by his father, Azerbaijan’s late national leader, former President Heydar Aliyev.

He is the author of numerous research works on geopolitical aspects of Azerbaijan’s oil strategy. He holds a degree of doctor of political sciences.

In 1995 and 2000, he was twice elected to the Milli Majlis (Parliament). In 2003, he stopped his activity as a member of parliament due to his appointment to the post of Prime Minister.

He was elected deputy chairman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in 1999, first deputy chairman in 2001, and chairman of the party in 2005.

From 2001 to 2003, he headed the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In January 2003, he was elected as deputy chairman of PACE and a member of a PACE bureau.

In October 2003, Aliyev was elected president of Azerbaijan. More than 76% of voters supported his candidacy at the elections.

Aliyev was elected for the second term in office after gaining 88% of votes in the elections held in October 2008.

Aliyev is fluent in Azerbaijani, English, Russian, French, and Turkish.

He is married, has three children and two grandchildren.