Heydar Aliyev is remembered in Azerbaijan

Childhood

The future first lady was born into a famous family of intellectuals Arif and Aida Pashayev. Her father is a scientist, teacher, public figure, and her mother is a critic, philologist and orientalist.

With mom

No less famous is Mehriban’s grandfather - writer, translator, literary scholar, author of numerous novels Mir Jalal Pashayev. And Mehriban’s sister, Nargiz Pashayeva, heads a branch of Moscow State University in Azerbaijan.

Mehriban (right) with her parents and sister

Mehriban always remembers her childhood and her family with warmth.

“Childhood,” recalls Mehriban, “is that period of time when I felt absolutely happy.”

She admits that her parents never lectured her and supported their daughters in everything. Mehriban took the death of her mother very hard in 1992, who was not only the first beauty and an outstanding scientist, but also an amazing, incredibly responsive person.

According to her, it was her family that played a key role in the formation of her personality: not only instilled a love for art and science, but also made her caring about the problems of other people, and also fostered a sense of belonging to her family. Those family evenings when several generations gathered at one table and supported each other, no matter what happened, remained forever in her memory.

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Education and career

Even from her school days, Mehriban was distinguished by her diligence and sharp mind: she graduated from school with a gold medal, after which she first entered the local medical university.

Afterwards, she continued her medical studies, only in Moscow, which she also completed with excellent marks, receiving a diploma in the specialty of ophthalmologist. Aliyeva recalls her student years as very meaningful, filled with a thirst for new knowledge and an extraordinary passion for science.

Immediately after graduating from university, she got a job at the Moscow Research Institute of Eye Diseases, where she worked for four years. And although today Aliyeva no longer works in her specialty, she often uses the knowledge and experience gained in her work. According to Mehriban, she left the profession of an ophthalmologist in order to engage in social activities, which she was passionate about.

Personal life

Mehriban got married quite early - the girl had just turned 19 when she met her future husband, Ilham.

The son of successful politician Heydar Aliyev, Ilham was already an enviable match. However, the famous Pashayev family was also a match.

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The girl was very warmly welcomed into the new family, and to this day she fondly remembers the departed Heydar and his wife Zarifa.

Today the Aliyevs have three children - daughters Leila and Arzu (33 and 29 years old), a son Heydar (21 years old) named after their grandfather, and four grandchildren.

Both girls were educated abroad. When they started studying in London, the eldest was 11, and the youngest was only 9. And although, according to Mehriban, it was very difficult for her to leave her daughters without guardianship, the decision was made correctly.

This not only gave Leila and Arzu a first-class European education, but also taught them responsibility and independence.

Business of Ilham Aliyev’s family - nepotism that has grown into corruption?

The business empire of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is growing. His youngest daughter, 24-year-old Arzu Aliyeva, mysteriously became a co-owner of an airline service company and one of the largest banks. This was reported by the information portal Novostnik.ru. Arzu Aliyeva

On the road connecting Baku International Airport and the center of the capital, travelers are greeted by a number of roadside billboards advertising a holding company called SW Holding. But the seemingly harmless billboards advertise a company that has a monopoly on airline services. Companies owned by SW Holding are responsible for catering for flights on medium-range aircraft, provide taxi services, and provide technical repairs to aircraft and helicopters of the national airline. In addition, there are many other companies that control everything from travel assistance to ticket sales and duty-free shops, which are also owned by the said holding. SW Holding is so large that it even has its own bank called Silk Way Bank.

As the Azerbaijani editorial office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty writes in its journalistic investigation, citing documents received from the State Committee for Financial Security of Azerbaijan, the owners of the bank are two women with close ties to the country's leadership.

One of them is Zarifa Gamzayeva, the wife of the head of the state aviation industry, the second is Arzu Aliyeva, the 21-year-old daughter of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Dubious privatization

The growth of SW Holding, which absorbed many of the former state aviation firms, has raised questions about questionable privatization methods by President Ilham Aliyev. The political elite continues to use their close friends and family members to maintain positions in the country's most valuable assets. And all this is happening despite Azerbaijani laws, according to which nepotism among government officials is considered a punishable crime, punishable by up to twelve years in prison. Ilham Aliyev likes to keep everything in the family. This trend began with his father Heydar Aliyev, who ruled the country for thirty years. Heydar Aliyev handed over the reins of power to his son before he died of heart disease in 2003. Ilham Aliyev's wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, is a member of parliament and a prominent political figure. The Washington Post reported that the Aliyev couple's young son, Heydar, became the owner of nine luxury mansions in Dubai last year, purchased for approximately $44 million. Their daughters, Leyla and Arzu, also have properties in Dubai registered in their names. In general, the property of the children of the President of Azerbaijan is estimated at $75 million. As president, Ilham Aliyev receives an official salary of about 230 thousand dollars a year. However, who previously served as president of Azerbaijan's state oil company Socar, still maintains tight control over the resources of his oil-rich country. Ilham Aliyev's fortune is estimated at tens of millions of dollars. Neither he nor his wife declared their net worth, which is contrary to Azerbaijani laws.

The law of the country prohibits officials from owning a business. However, such restrictions do not apply to members of Ilham Aliyev’s family. Where do the millions come from?

It is unclear how Arzu Aliyeva, still known for her role in commercial tourism advertisements in Azerbaijan broadcast on CNN, received the estimated 6.4 million manats (about $7.8 million) that she used to buy 29 .08 percent of shares of SW Holding.
Or how Aliyeva Jr. found 4.5 million manats, which she and Zarifa Gamzaeva needed to obtain a blocking stake in the holding. Zarifa Gamzaeva is the owner of Gazelly, a successful cosmetics business, but experts say it is unlikely her profits from the business are large enough to warrant a multimillion-dollar investment in the bank. In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the press secretary of the President of Azerbaijan Azer Gasimov confirmed that Arzu Aliyeva is one of the owners of Silk Way Bank. “As a citizen of Azerbaijan who has reached the age of majority, Arzu Aliyeva had every right, within the framework of the law, to create her own business,” the press secretary said. The growth of SW Holding and Silk Way Bank raised the issue of privatization of state-owned aviation, including Azal Bank. The privatization process was launched in 2003 as part of a plan prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan. According to the country's legislation, the entire process had to be carried out by the state committee for the privatization of state property. But Gulu Khalilov, a committee spokesman, told RFE/RL that he had no information about who privatized AzalBank. There are no barriers for the family
Anar Khanbeyli, a financial expert, says the process has been confusing from the start. According to him, as a rule, the state's share should be privatized through the committee for the privatization of state property and the privatization of the state's share in the bank should have been carried out in the same committee. “They had to make a statement, accept bids, announce the conditions for participation in the tender, and then announce the winner. None of these procedures were done. They bypassed them when they completely privatized the state’s share,” says the expert. Meanwhile, SW Holding slowly acquired almost all of the former ones, including the insurance company AZAL Sigorta, which is now jointly owned by SW Holding and the two daughters of Jahangir Asgarov, the president and husband of Zarifa Gamzayeva, who is a co-owner of Silk Way Bank. SW Holdings was also the sole contractor on a number of high-profile projects, including deals to build airports in Lankaran, Ganja and Zagatala worth a total of $150 million. However, neither side is keen to clarify the connection between the two organizations. Even the Central Bank and the Tax Ministry turned a blind eye, although there are violations of laws during this privatization. Let us note that this is not the first case when the heads of promising state institutions in Azerbaijan, taking advantage of close relatives, privatized the most profitable parts of their enterprises and thus receive large capital. All of them, like President Ilham Aliyev, have repeatedly refused to declare their own income.

Nine mansions of the president's son in Dubai

After the Washington Post wrote about the purchase of nine palaces in Dubai by Ilham Aliyev, some websites were blocked in Azerbaijan. The property was registered in the name of the children of Ilham Aliyev.

“The appearance of a Washington Post article about the property of the ruling family of Azerbaijan in Dubai turned into a real drama for social media users in Azerbaijan,” writes Arastun Orujlu on the website of the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Not so long ago, the American newspaper The Washington Post admired one of the events that took place in the United Arab Emirates, in Dubai. This emirate has long been a destination for extravagant attractions and occasions. But the episode described by the newspaper stands out against the backdrop of even the Dubai pranks of wealthy people. What happened was that in just two weeks last year, an 11-year-old boy from Azerbaijan became the owner of nine palaces located right on the beach in an area where the most expensive real estate in Dubai is located. The purchase price is $44 million, which, roughly translated, is the salary of an ordinary Azerbaijani citizen for 10 thousand years. But the owner of this impressive purchase is far from being an ordinary citizen of Azerbaijan. His name is Heydar Aliyev, which coincidentally coincides with the name of the son of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The date of birth of the owner of the purchased palaces, recorded in real estate documents in Dubai, is the same as that of the presidential son. The Washington Post newspaper was unable to obtain comments from officials in Baku on how the son of the president, or at least a Baku schoolboy with the same name, was able to purchase luxury estates on Palm Jumeirah. This is the same area in Dubai where luxury real estate is associated with the names of multimillionaires - British football stars and other lucky people who easily part with huge amounts of cash. Stability and corruption

Oil- and gas-rich Azerbaijan, where poverty is still widespread, especially outside the glittering capital, has a long-standing reputation for rampant corruption. But the previously unreported acquisitions in Dubai may serve as a rare example of how much money Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family are amassing. The Washington Post believes that, thanks to the Aliyev family's long tenure in power, the country has achieved stability and solid economic growth. Although at the same time, Azerbaijan is riddled with widespread bribery with an already entrenched culture of impunity. This is precisely what was associated with the trial in New York last year of American millionaire Frederick Burke Jr. He was accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing Azerbaijani officials to further his commercial interests. The Frederick Burke case involved the Azerbaijani state oil corporation SOCAR, which at the time of the scam, in the 1990s, was led by the future president of Azerbaijan, and then only a director, Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijani detective

In addition to the 11-year-old Bakuvian with the details of the son of the Azerbaijani president, the official cadastres of Dubai real estate record acquisitions in the names of certain Leyla and Arzu Aliyevs from Azerbaijan. And again, a coincidence that was noticed by an American newspaper, citing the fact that in the family of the President of Azerbaijan, his two daughters were named by the same names. In total, three darlings of fortune purchased a series of palaces in Dubai for a total amount of 330 annual salaries of Ilham Aliyev. This is approximately $75 million. The Washington Post is trying to find the possible sources of such generous partings with foreign currency in Baku. And he finds it. Relatives of the president's wife, First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, are business owners in the country. The president's eldest daughter, Leila, is married to prosperous Russian businessman Emin Agalarov. The American newspaper contacted Emin Agalarov in an attempt to find out whether he helped financially acquire real estate in Dubai for his wife or for the president’s other children. Emin Agalarov replied that he had common interests with his wife in business and real estate, but avoided details, writing by email: “We do not want to comment on this.”