Ilham Aliev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Audio 03:41
President Ilham Aliev on November 24, 2017 in Brussels during a summit on the partnership between the countries of Eastern Europe.
AFP / Belga / Thierry Roge
By: Sophia Khatsenkova
8 min
The fighting resumed since September 27 in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave which seceded from Azerbaijan in the 1990s. Today, Azerbaijan claims to have reconquered territories during the last fighting.
Portrait of its president, Ilham Aliev.
Publicity
“
My dear compatriots, the victorious Azerbaijani army is winning new victories on the battlefield.
These victories bring happiness to every Azerbaijani citizen.
The enemy is powerless in front of us.
Karabakh is ours.
Long live Azerbaijan
!
"
In a few weeks, Ilham Aliev has turned into a real warlord since the resumption of fighting with Armenia.
Today, he wants to take back the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh which he considers to belong to Azerbaijan.
For Paul Stronski, Eurasia specialist at the Carnegie Foundation, Ilham Aliev is a way of winning back his people.
"
I think that today many people support him, because Azerbaijan is doing quite well in this recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
," he said.
But in the months leading up to the fighting, he wasn't that popular.
We have seen a rise in dissatisfaction with power.
There has been a lot of money and wealth lost due to corruption.
And because of the drop in oil prices in recent years, there is less money to help people.
In addition, the government has found it very difficult to manage the coronavirus crisis, socially and economically.
"
Azerbaijan is a small country in the Caucasus rich in hydrocarbons
and under the control of the same family for several decades.
Ilham Aliev's father Heydar Aliev, a former Soviet KGB general since the 1960s, had become its president in 1993. He ruled the country with an iron fist before passing the torch to his son a few weeks before. to die in 2003. A heavy legacy to bear for Ilham Aliev, as explained by Thorniké Gordadzé, a specialist in the Caucasus region.
"
He is someone who, when he came to power, was in the shadow of his father
," he recalls.
His father was considered the founding father of the country.
And Ilham Aliev could not carry that weight on his shoulders.
Little by little, he emancipated himself.
And we see today that he is transforming himself as a powerful leader who controls the whole country and who has managed to break the opposition.
"
►
Read also
: Karabakh conflict: energy issues behind the scenes
In 17 years of reign, Ilham Aliev has tailored the institutions to his measure.
He removed the presidential term limit.
Then he extended the term from five to seven years.
In each presidential election,
he is re-elected with Soviet scores
.
The lowest was 85% in 2013. The opposition and independent observers denounce massive fraud every time.
In 2017, he made his wife, Mehriban, the country's first vice-president.
He also paved the way for a possible transfer of power to his son Heydar, now 23.
The Aliev dynasty shared power and a colossal fortune estimated at several billion euros.
Money that allowed the government to forge beautiful friendships with representatives of foreign powers.
Gifts, investments, travel, so many gestures to attract the sympathy of international players.
A strategy called “
caviar diplomacy
”.
While the indicators on freedom of expression and corruption are at their lowest, few foreign leaders are surprised.
But according to Gaidz Minassian, specialist in the Caucasus region, Azerbaijan still has too much influence in the region: “
Azerbaijan is the economic heart of the region with its gas and oil.
Thanks to its oil and gas income, it has a substantial military arsenal.
And it has to play on different fronts and it does it very well, but at what cost?
"
As a skilful tactician, Ilham Aliev knew how to use all his cards: his proximity to Moscow, his proximity to Ankara and natural gas, so dear to Europe.
And the Aliev dynasty intends to continue to take advantage of its assets.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Ilham Aliyev
Azerbaijan
On the same subject
Orient weekly
Nagorno-Karabakh: a conflict with many regional ramifications
Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations fail between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington
The world in question
Renewed tension in Nagorno-Karabakh