In light of the significant date for the Azerbaijani people – June 15 – it seems appropriate to focus on some historical facts from Heydar Aliyev’s life. These are the steps that contributed to the establishment of independent Azerbaijan as it is known today – respected and recognized worldwide.
On July 20, 1990, Heydar Aliyev returned to Azerbaijan from Moscow. However, as he recalled, the then authorities “did not allow me to live in Baku,” prompting him to “leave for Nakhchivan.” In the parliamentary elections that fall, Heydar Aliyev won in the Negram district and was soon elected chairman of the Supreme Council of the Nakhichevan ASSR. The first session of the 12th convocation of the Supreme Mejlis of the Nakhichevan ASSR, held on November 17, 1990, under Aliyev’s chairmanship, decided to rename the Nakhichevan ASSR to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR). The tricolor state flag, a symbol of independence, was restored and adopted as the state flag of the NAR. Simultaneously, a petition was raised before the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR to recognize this flag as the state symbol of all Azerbaijan.
A political assessment of the January 1990 tragedy in Baku was given, documenting the “armed aggression” against Azerbaijan when “special forces of the Soviet army, units of the navy, and internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs occupied Baku.” The Supreme Mejlis of the NAR, defining the events as an “infringement on Azerbaijan’s sovereign rights,” decreed January 20 as a National Mourning Day.
On December 16, 1991, the Supreme Mejlis of the NAR initiated the establishment of December 31 as the Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis Worldwide. Heydar Aliyev’s popularity across Azerbaijan grew rapidly, and on October 16, 1992, representatives of Azerbaijani intelligentsia (91 people) sent him a letter outlining the “political and spiritual crisis” in Azerbaijan, stating that “the current government cannot control socio-political processes,” and the “republic’s economic potential is rapidly collapsing.” They called Aliyev the only leader capable of undertaking the “difficult, responsible task” of leading the Yeni Azerbaijan party, which they wanted to create – a strong, “authoritative and effective” party that would “unite the masses of all strata of the republic and fill the political and economic void.”
In his response, Heydar Aliyev emphasized that Azerbaijan’s independence was not the merit of “certain socio-political forces or individual personalities, including the Popular Front,” but a “national treasure of the entire Azerbaijani people.” Regarding the establishment of the Yeni Azerbaijan party, Aliyev noted that it “could play a historical role in strengthening and developing the new independent Azerbaijani state,” and he expressed his willingness to participate actively in its activities if it were formed.
A significant event was Aliyev’s message to the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, in January 1993, expressing hope for a fair attitude from the White House towards Azerbaijan, particularly regarding the resolution of the “blockade of Nakhchivan by Armenia.” Amidst growing clouds over Azerbaijan’s statehood and signs of civil war, Aliyev returned to Baku at the people’s request and was elected chairman of the country’s parliament on June 15, 1993. From that day, he began to strengthen Azerbaijan piece by piece.
In his speech on August 17, 1993, at a meeting with representatives of major international oil companies, Aliyev significantly noted that “if the world’s largest oil companies show interest in Azerbaijan’s oil fields,” then “the government circles of these countries should also be interested in Azerbaijan’s current socio-political situation. I believe that most oil companies are closely connected with the government circles they represent. Their work here allows for hope for further improvement in these countries’ attitudes towards Azerbaijan.”
Briefly and clearly. Meanwhile, the national leader activated foreign policy, visiting Russia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Agreements on friendship and cooperation were signed with the latter two, and a “Memorandum of Cooperation in Energy, particularly in the oil industry” with London. In light of another wave of Armenia’s aggressive aspirations against Azerbaijan, Aliyev stated that although “a significant part of the country’s territory is occupied by Armenian armed formations,” resulting in “several hundred thousand people becoming refugees in dire conditions,” international organizations “could not find ways to solve the problem, influence the processes, or stop the bloodshed.” UN Security Council resolutions on this issue “remained on paper.”
On October 3, Heydar Aliyev was elected president of the country, and on May 5, 1994, the Bishkek Protocol was signed, which, according to Aliyev, Azerbaijan signed with the “one goal – to cease fire, and we achieved this.”
In June 1994, the Azerbaijani delegation participated for the first time in a NATO session, and in September 1994, the famous oil contract with Western countries was presented to the world, which, according to Aliyev, laid the foundation for “integrating Azerbaijan’s economy into the global economy.” As President Ilham Aliyev reveals, with the signing of the “Contract of the Century,” “new opportunities for Azerbaijan’s development arose. Significant investments began flowing into the state. For the first time in history, a process of international cooperation in the Caspian Sea started. Azerbaijan gained the opportunity to supply its rich oil resources to world markets. The overall economic and political development of our country began” precisely with the “Contract of the Century.”
The OSCE summit in Lisbon in December 1996, thanks to Aliyev’s masterful steps, highlighted the recognition of Azerbaijan’s “territorial integrity” among the principles of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. By the end of 1997, the Milli Mejlis ratified the eighth contract with the American company Chevron to develop the Caspian oil and gas structure “Absheron” worth $4 billion.
In April 1998, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was named the main export pipeline for delivering Absheron’s “black gold” to world markets. In the fall of the same year, the heads of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the US Energy Secretary signed the Ankara Declaration supporting the project’s implementation.
Acquaintance with these facts unequivocally shows that in the first five years of Heydar Aliyev’s leadership, the national leader managed to bring the independent Azerbaijan out of a state of paralysis into the ranks of significant geopolitical states. Heydar Aliyev’s political successor, Ilham Aliyev, brilliantly continued his legacy, opening new chapters in the country’s history. As a result of the brilliant military actions conducted by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in 2020 under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the president of the country, Azerbaijan liberated all its ancestral lands that had been under Armenian military occupation for almost 30 years.
During the debates at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Ilham Aliyev noted that “during the war, Azerbaijan liberated a significant part of the occupied territories, including the cities of Jabrayil, Hadrut, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha. In total, more than 300 cities and villages were liberated on the battlefield. On November 10, 2020, Armenia was forced to sign an act of capitulation. Thus, Armenia was compelled to withdraw its troops from other Azerbaijani territories – from Agdam, Lachin, and Kalbajar. Azerbaijan ensured the implementation of the aforementioned UN Security Council resolutions itself, which is probably the only such fact in the world from the establishment of the UN to this day.”
Emphasizing that Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and historical justice through military-political means, the head of state said: “The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in the past. There is no administrative-territorial unit called Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. By the decree of the President dated July 7, 2021, we created the Karabakh and East Zangezur economic zones. Taking this opportunity, I urge UN member states and the UN Secretariat, when referring to our territories, to avoid using legally non-existent, politically biased, and manipulative names.”
In his inaugural speech on February 14, 2024, the head of state emphasized that the anti-terrorist operation of a local nature conducted in the fall of 2023 demonstrated the power of our Armed Forces. “In just a few hours, the approximately 15,000-strong expeditionary corps of the Armenian army was completely paralyzed, and they were forced to sign an act of capitulation for the second time. Thus, separatism in Azerbaijan was completely eradicated, and Azerbaijan fully restored both its territorial integrity and state sovereignty.”
On this note, we can conclude this brief overview of certain milestones in our country’s recent history, drawing parallels to the present day. Careful examination of events unequivocally shows that the foundation of Azerbaijan’s current successes was laid by the unique personality of the national leader Heydar Aliyev.
Teymur Atayev