Mehriban Aliyeva | |
|---|---|
Mehriban Əliyeva | |
_(1x1_cropped).jpg) Aliyeva in 2024 | |
| First Vice President of Azerbaijan | |
| Assumed office 21 February 2017 | |
| President | Ilham Aliyev |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| First Lady of Azerbaijan | |
Current | |
| Assumed role 31 October 2003 | |
| President | Ilham Aliyev |
| Preceded by | Halima Aliyeva |
| Deputy Leader of the New Azerbaijan Party | |
| Assumed office 7 June 2013 | |
| Leader | Ilham Aliyev |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| President of theHeydar Aliyev Foundation | |
| Assumed office 10 May 2004 | |
| Vice President | Leyla Aliyeva |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Member of theNational Assembly | |
| In office 2 December 2005 – 6 March 2017 | |
| Constituency | Azizbeyov 2nd №14 (2005-2010) Khazar №14 (2010-2017) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mehriban Arif qızı Paşayeva (1964-08-26)26 August 1964 (age 61) |
| Political party | New Azerbaijan Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Alma mater | Azerbaijan Medical University |
| Signature |  |
| Website | mehriban-aliyeva.az/en |
Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva[a] (née Pashayeva; born 26 August 1964) is an Azerbaijani politician and physician who is theFirst Vice President andFirst Lady ofAzerbaijan.
She is married toIlham Aliyev, thepresident of Azerbaijan. Aliyev created the position of First Vice President in 2017 and appointed his wife to the position.
Mehriban Pashayeva was born inBaku, and is from a family described in leaked US Embassy cables as "the single most powerful family in Azerbaijan." Her grandfather was the writerMir Jalal Pashayev, anIranian Azerbaijani born in Iran. Her uncleHafiz Pashayev was Azerbaijan's first Ambassador to the United States. Her father,Arif Pashayev, is Rector of the National Aviation Academy in Baku,[1] and her mother,Aida Imanguliyeva (1939–1992) was aphilologist andArabist, daughter of the journalist and pedagogue Nasir Imanguliyev.[2][3]
Aliyeva finished secondary school number 23 in 1982.[3] She entered the Preventive-Treatment Faculty of theAzerbaijan Medical University, in which she excelled,[4] and later continued her studies at the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, from which she graduated in 1988.[2][3][5] From 1988–92, Mehriban Aliyeva worked at the State Research Institute of Eye Diseases of theRussian Academy of Medical Sciences inMoscow, which was led by Dr. Mikhail Krasnov.[2][6] Aliyeva got her PhD after defending a thesis on "Euthanasia and humanism issues in medicine" in 2005.[3] Two articles inThe Times in 2005 described her as a "qualified physician"[4] and "former eye doctor."[5]
In 1995, she established theAzerbaijani Culture Friends Foundation.[2][7] In 1996, she founded the magazine "Azerbaijan - Heritage" published in three languages (Azerbaijani,English andRussian) in order to promote Azerbaijani culture.[8]
Leaked documents reveal that in 2003 she registered an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, Rosamund International Ltd.[9]
Aliyeva established on 10 May 2004[3] theHeydar Aliyev Foundation, which focuses on studying and holding events to promoteHeydar Aliyev's political ideology. In Azerbaijan, according to a recent news article, "The HAF builds more schools than Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education, more hospitals than the Ministry of Health, and conducts more cultural events than the Ministry of Culture."[10] The Heydar Aliyev Foundation also sponsors projects outside Azerbaijan, including helping to finance renovations at theLouvre Museum,Palace of Versailles, andStrasbourg Cathedral.[10][11][12]
She isUNESCO Goodwill Ambassador,[3][13] and Goodwill Ambassador ofISESCO.[14] She was a member of the Executive Committee of theNational Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan at the 4th General Assembly of theNOC on 28 December 2004.[3][15]
Since 2004, she is a member of the Political Board of theNew Azerbaijan Party, which her husband is the leader of. She was selected as the deputy chairperson of theParty in June 2013.[3][15] She was appointed by her husband as the chairperson of the Organizing Committee for the1st European Games in Baku.[3]
In Azerbaijan's fraudulent2005 parliamentary elections, she was elected to theNational Assembly of Azerbaijan. Her candidacy was run by theNew Azerbaijan Party from the Azizbeyov Second Constituency №14, and she was elected to the Parliament with 92.12% of the votes.[3] She had previously broken with tradition to help campaign for her husband in 2003, when he ran for President of Azerbaijan.[16]The Sunday Times, writing in 2005 about Aliyeva's decision to run for the Azerbaijani parliament, described her as already wielding "considerable influence," and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation as "a powerful and wealthy institution set up to safeguard the late president’s legacy and support a number of educational and charitable projects."[5] She was nominated from Khazar Constituency №14 in 2010 and 2015 parliamentary elections and gained 94.49% of the votes in 2010, 96.7% in 2015.[3]
During her MP period, Mehriban Aliyeva appealed to Milli Majlis for the adoption of amnesty acts on 28 May – Republic Day. As a result, in 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2016, more than 30,000 prisoners were released from different sentences.[17]
On 21 February 2017, she was appointed First Vice President of Azerbaijan by her husband Ilham Aliyev, the president and authoritarian leader of Azerbaijan.[18][19][20][21] If her husband would step down, she would become President of Azerbaijan.[18] This was an office that was created through aconstitutional referendum in 2016 which Ilham Aliyev had ordered.[19] The referendum also lowered the age requirement for president, making it possible for Aliyev's son,Heydar Aliyev Jr., then 19 years old, to become president.[18] Critics said these changes were intended to consolidate the family's dynastic rule.[18]
Freedom House reports thatHeydar Aliyev Foundation headed by Aliyeva since its creation in 2014, while supporting cultural projects domestically and abroad, has been focusing on "burnishing the regime’s international image and advancing Baku’s official position on the disputed territory ofNagorno-Karabakh". It has also been criticized as a vehicle for corruption.[22]
Aliyeva has claimed that Azerbaijan is a land of political tolerance and denied claims of mass political imprisonment. In 2015 when asked about the plight of imprisoned journalistKhadija Ismayilova and human rights advocateLeyla Yunus, Mehriban did not respond.[23] Her appointment as First Vice President coincided with the detention of more opposition party activists, which may have been an attempt to stifle any attempts to protest the move.[24][25] In Azerbaijan, power is concentrated in the hands of Aliyev and his extended family, andhuman rights violations includetorture,[26][27]arbitrary arrests, as well as harassment of journalists andnon-governmental organizations.[28]
She marriedIlham Aliyev, the son ofHeydar Aliyev, inBaku on 22 December 1983.[2] The Aliyevs have two daughters,Leyla (born 3 July 1984) andArzu (born 23 January 1989), and a son,Heydar (born 2 August 1997). Leyla is the editor ofBaku magazine, published byAzerbaijani Russian businessmanAras Agalarov, and was married to his sonEmin Agalarov.[29]
Aliyeva has undergone extensive plastic surgery.[30] Leaked diplomatic cables dating from a 2008 visit to Baku reveal that US officials were unable to immediately distinguish the First Lady from her two daughters Arzu and Leyla due to the extensive operations, and worded that Aliyeva "has problems showing a full range of facial expressions, following substantial cosmetic surgery, [done] presumably overseas" and "wears dresses that would be considered provocative even in the Western world".[30]
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Azerbaijan – The Public Figure of 2004[3][31]Azerbaijan –Heydar Aliyev Order[32][33]Azerbaijan – The Person of 2005[34]Azerbaijan – Woman of Year (2005)[35]Azerbaijan – The Person of 2015[36]Azerbaijan – Cossack Glory[37]Azerbaijan – Academician Mikayil Huseynov Medal (2017)[38]Azerbaijan – Uzeir Hajibeyli honorary medal[39]
France –Legion of Honour[40][41]
Kuwait – Honorary Diploma of the State of Kuwait
Pakistan –Hilal-e-Pakistan
Poland –Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland[42]
Serbia – Sretenjski Orden[43]
Russia – 'Ruby Cross' Order of Philanthropists of the Century International Charity Foundation of Russia[44]Russia – Golden Heart International Award[45]Russia – Order of "For Services to Astrakhan Region"[46]
Switzerland – Gold Medal of the Crans Montana Forum[47] Switzerland – “Prix de la Fondation” Prize of the Crans Montana Forum[48]Pakistan – "The Symbol of Humanism - The Person of 2012"[49]Pakistan – Martyr Benazir Bhutto Woman Perfection Prize - 2013[15]
Greece – Elpida Award[50]
Hungary – Commander's Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary[51]
Bulgaria – Diploma of an honorary citizen ofVeliko Tyrnovo[52][53]Russia – Saint Princess Olga Order of 2nd degree of theRussian Orthodox Church[54][55][3]
Italy – Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic (12 July 2018)[56][57]Russia –Order of Friendship (13 August 2019)[58][59]
Vatican –Order of Pope Pius IX, Dame Grand Cross (22 February 2020)[60]Bulgaria – Honorary doctor of theVeliko Tarnovo University[52][53]Russia – Honorary Professor of theI.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University[65]
Israel – Honorary doctor of the Israel Medical Academy[66]Over the past several years, Azerbaijan has become increasingly authoritarian, as the authorities have used tactics such as harassment, intimidation, blackmail, attack and imprisonment to silence the regime's critics, whether journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, political activists, or ordinary people taking to the streets in protest.
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | First Lady of Azerbaijan 2003–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| New title | First Vice President of Azerbaijan 2017–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
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