Ilham Aliyev

Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev is the current President of Azerbaijan holding the position since 2003. He is the fourth president of Azerbaijan succeeding his father Heydar Aliyev who held the office from 1993 to 2003. He serves the ‘New Azerbaijan Party’ as it’s Chairman and also heads the ‘National Olympic Committee. He is the recipient of two national honors - the ‘Heydar Aliyev Order’ and the ‘Order of Sheikhulislam’. He has received several foreign awards, honours and orders. Some of them are ‘Grand Cordon Order of Merit’ from ‘International Military Sports Council’, ‘Prepodobniy Sergiy Rodonejskiy first degree Order of Russian Orthodox Church’ and the ‘Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor’ from France. Ilham Aliyev has been conferred honorary degrees by several foreign universities. Some such honours are ‘Honorary Doctor of Lincoln University’ of USA, ‘Honorary Professor of Moscow State University’ of Russia and ‘Honorary Doctor of Kyung Hee University’, South Korea. He remains one of the most controversial figures who have faced criticism for his autocratic rule in Azerbaijan. While political analysts mark him as Europe’s leading man in corruption, ‘Transparency International’ has enlisted his government among the most corrupt in Europe.