Person

Heydar Aliyev

1923–2003 · 20th century

Heydar Aliyev was a KGB officer who led the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan SSR from 1969 to 1982 and then became a member of the Soviet Politburo. He returned to power in independent Azerbaijan in 1993 and as president agreed the 1994 ceasefire in the First Karabakh War and the 'Contract of the Century' with Western oil companies. He built a strong presidential system, passed in 2003 to his son Ilham.

Heydar Aliyev
Image: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Azerbaijan SSRAzerbaijan

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Heydar Aliyev. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heydar-aliyev
MLA
“Heydar Aliyev.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heydar-aliyev. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Heydar Aliyev.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heydar-aliyev.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Heydar Aliyev’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heydar-aliyev (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻