Wars, politics & history

Birth of Ilham Aliyev

24 December 1961

Ilham Aliyev was born on 24 December 1961 in Baku. An Azerbaijani politician, Aliyev is the son of Heydar Aliyev, who led Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003. He was elected president in October 2003, shortly before his father died, and has been re-elected several times, after constitutional changes removed the limit on terms. His government has used revenue from oil and gas exports to modernize Baku and fund infrastructure. In 2020 Azerbaijani forces won a war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh and recaptured territory that Armenian forces had held since the 1990s, and in 2023 a further offensive ended Armenian control of the region. Human rights groups have criticized his government for restrictions on the press and on the opposition.

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