Ilham Aliyev

Ilham Aliyev is the current president of Azerbaijan.

Aliyev was first elected President of Azerbaijan in 2003. He was re-elected for his second term in 2008, and was elected to serve his current and third term in 2013. Throughout his time as president, one million new jobs have been created in Azerbaijan.

Aliyev worked in the private enterprise sector in the early nineties before serving as vice president, and later first vice president, of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan from 1994 to 2003. In the same time period he was elected twice to Azerbaijani parliament, known as the Milli Majlis.

He began his work for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2001 by leading the Azerbaijani delegation. In 2003 he became deputy chairman and a member of the bureau of PACE. The organization meets multiple times a year to discuss and consult on issues that affect the people of Europe, with a focus on human rights and related events.

Aliyev is chairman of the New Azerbaijani Party.

Aliyev graduated from the Moscow State University of International Relations (MSUIR) in 1982, and went on to earn his PhD in history from the school in 1985. He then lectured at MSUIR for five years.

He has served as president of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan since 1997.