GUARANTOR

Personalities are born by history, but not every personality can make history, moreover, history that will be studied for a long time thereafter, if it can be studied entirely at all. The real magnitude of a personality is realised only as time has gone by after its loss. The same way, we are realising better and better as years go by the magnitude of Heydar Aliyev's personality, a phenomenon which is linked to a quite complicated period in the history of the contemporary Azerbaijan.

Ten years after his death, tens of thousands of people gathered at the Alley of Honour to pay tribute to the bright memory of the country's national leader. Despite the bad weather, people of different ages and professions queued patiently with flowers in their hands to pay tribute to the memory of the man whose name is connected to the present-day might of Azerbaijan and well-being of every family. The reminiscences about Heydar Aliyev and his deeds are still vivid in the memory of the people. And it is not accidental that the period between 1969 and 2003 went down in Azerbaijan's history as Heydar Aliyev's epoch. President Ilham Aliyev said at the commemoration ceremony held to mark the 10th anniversary since the death of the national leader: "Prior to 1970, Azerbaijan was the most backward republic in the Soviet space. But thanks to the activity of Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan became the most progressive republic on the Soviet scale in the early 1980s."

Thereafter, Heydar Aliyev always stood by the people at the most challenging moments. After the 20 January tragedy in 1990, two years prior to the Soviet Union's collapse, he condemned the Soviet government with his inherent courage and quit the Communist Party where he had served as a senior official for a long time.

In 1993, when Azerbaijan faced the looming threat of a civil war, political and economic crises, the Azerbaijanis sought help from Heydar Aliyev again. The mission of saving the state from a collapse and loss of independence was not vested in him by mere chance. Now he was also a leader who set the example and initiated declaring the tricolour flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as the national flag of the present-day Azerbaijan.

Heydar Aliyev was called the guarantor of socio-political stability. This was not just a fashion of speech, but the definition based on historical reality. His call alone made in 1994 was enough for tens of thousands of people to take to the streets at night to help the leader avert the threat of the loss of independence. The coup attempt failed, just like the previous provocations of separatists.

But first and foremost, Heydar Aliyev succeeded in preventing further occupation of lands and bloodshed in the war unleashed by Armenia.

"There were two ways of solving this issue: the first one was to continue waging the war, deplete all the resources of Azerbaijan, lead the country to a deplorable plight. The second one was to prevent bloodshed and gain time, by reaching truce, more precisely, a ceasefire. I think the most proper path was chosen. An opportunity emerged by achieving a ceasefire to engage in other affairs of the country. Internal stability was established, economic development and constructive work began," Suleyman Demirel, the 9th President of Turkey, recalled later.

Thus, thanks to the national leader, it was possible to stop the bloody war, to put an end to internal strife, establish political stability and carry out the necessary reforms.

During the tenure of Heydar Aliyev hefty foreign investment was drawn to the Azerbaijani economy. The development of major oil and gas fields was launched. All this created the basis for the current development of the country. Heydar Aliyev like no other person facilitated economic prosperity, the development of the national self-consciousness, culture and science.

"In his time, the foundations of statehood were laid, the Constitution of the independent Azerbaijan was adopted, and serious reforms were started. Azerbaijan managed to take its firm place in the international arena. The reforms carried out within the country provided for its development. The Azerbaijani state was built upon very deep national roots, national values. The rampant development of Azerbaijan in 1993-2003 also ensured our realities of the present day," said President Ilham Aliyev, a companion-in-arms and successor of the nationwide leader's ideas.

Mainly thanks to the very consistency of the political course, in 2003-2013 Azerbaijan became the fastest-growing country in the world.

"The results are evident in all spheres. Baku has turned into one of the world's most beautiful cities. The modernization programme has been implemented successfully in our regions. The state programmes of socio-economic development of the regions have been implemented successfully. We have become a space power. An Azerbaijani satellite has been launched into the orbit. We have carried out projects in the energy and transport sectors that are important for our country and for the world, and which will ensure a prosperous life of our nation, our country, over the decades to come," President Aliyev said.

Moreover, Azerbaijan was elected a member of the U.N. Security Council with great international support, which once again highlighted the country's significance in world politics. As the President noted, the main condition for all these successes is the commitment to the policy of Heydar Aliyev.

Today, such definitions as "phenomenon", "guarantor", "a politician of a global scale", and "a political giant" are encountered when you look for the words suitable to evaluate the significance of Heydar Aliyev's personality, and in the statements and recollections of well-known world leaders, statesmen and men of culture. So, that's how he was remembered by both ordinary people and personalities who make our history. And that means this is how he was embedded by history itself.

FIRSTHAND

"The scale of this politician goes beyond Azerbaijan. He was an amazing person, an interesting interlocutor. Heydar Aliyev was a big friend of Russia, and at the same time, a big patriot of Azerbaijan, his homeland. Azerbaijan was very lucky… This was a major statesman. Without exaggeration, a political giant." 

Vladimir PUTIN, President of the Russian Federation

"President Heydar Aliyev will always be remembered for the important role that he played in the evolvement of Azerbaijan in the early years of its independence. Moreover, with the aid of his efforts we have managed to establish firm economic and diplomatic relations between our countries. It was thanks to his endeavours that an economic basis of Azerbaijan was built."

George Herbert Walker BUSH, the 41st President of the United States

"Honourable Heydar Aliyev appeared on the political stage during the most challenging time for Azerbaijan. He did great services to Azerbaijan in the 1960-80s. Some people, political leaders serve their countries, but a day comes when there is a great need for such personalities, i.e. if it wasn't for that personality, the question arises 'What is in store for this country?' For example, if Churchill had not headed England from 1939, what would have been the course of history? Churchill was 65 years old, besides, there were many political leaders in England at the time. However, it was him who was needed."

Suleyman DEMIREL, the 9th President of the Republic of Turkey

"In the situation Azerbaijan ended up in, it was very difficult to establish a state, it was up to only outstanding leaders. Frankly speaking, I often think that unlike Georgia, Azerbaijan was very fortunate. I mean that we had a leader who left behind only chaos and disorder. In Georgia, there has not been a man who left behind an already steadfast system of governance and a clear path for the development of the state. But you did have such a leader. And in this sense, Azerbaijan was certainly lucky. As a result, Azerbaijan is currently the most developed country in the region." 

Mikheil SAAKASHVILI, 3rd President of Georgia 

ABOUT HIM

Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was born on 10 May, 1923 in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Azerbaijan SSR. He graduated from the local teacher training vocational school and then from the department of history at Baku State University. In 1938-1941, he attended the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute named after M. Azizbayov. In 1941-1944, he worked as the head of a department at the Council of People's Commissars of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and from 1944 he worked at the national security bodies of Azerbaijan, he started as a private and was promoted to the rank of general and the post of the chairman of the republican KGB (Committee for State Security). In 1969-1982, Heydar Aliyev headed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. In 1976-1982, he was a candidate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and in 1982-1986, he was a member of the Political Bureau and first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers. In 1990, he seceded from the CPSU and returned to his homeland from Moscow. In 1990-1993, he was chairman of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic's Supreme Council and simultaneously was deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan Supreme Council. On 15 June 1993, he was elected chairman of the Azerbaijan Supreme Council. From 24 June 1993, he was acting president of the Azerbaijan Republic. He was elected president of Azerbaijan in October 1993 and re-elected for the post in October 1998.  In April 1999, Heydar Aliyev underwent a coronary artery bypass surgery in Cleveland (Ohio, USA). He was also taken there in August 2003 from the Turkish Gulkhane hospital where he had been under treatment following a severe heart attack. Heydar Aliyev passed away on 12 December, 2003 at the age of 80.