Azernews.Az

Azerbaijanis on May 10 marked the 89th birthday anniversary of their late leader, Heydar Aliyev, the architect and founder of the independent Azerbaijani state.

People from across the country as well as foreign visitors lining up in long queues paid tribute at the Alley of Honors in the capital Baku where the prominent statesman was laid to rest. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva also laid flowers at Heydar Aliyev`s grave.

A flower festival was organized in Baku on the same day on the occasion of Heydar Aliyev`s birthday anniversary. The event was attended by the Azerbaijani president, first lady and their family members.

President Aliyev was informed that from early morning the city`s residents had been gathering at the Heydar Aliyev park, decorated with flowers delivered from a number of countries.

The president and his family members paid tribute to the Heydar Aliyev monument and admired the beauty of the flower-smothered park.

They also took photos with the children who greeted them.

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 did 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.