Heydar Aliyev’s appearance alongside his father, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev in official meetings is not new. Nevertheless, his participation in the high-level official government meeting on economic issues caused a discussion about him.
Heydar’s emergence:
Typically, Heydar Aliyev accompanies his father together with other family members to attend opening ceremonies, the voting process and similar events. However, for the first time, it changed when the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Azerbaijan in early 2024, since Heydar Aliyev also was attending the official welcoming ceremony for the president.
The second time he was seen in February in another meeting, again together with his father. Aliyevs visited the Air Force military facilities and watched the flyover of the Akinci unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UAV).
Thus, Heydar Aliyev started appearing alongside Ilham Aliyev more frequently and alone.
What has happened recently:
On September 26, Ilham Aliyev held a meeting dedicated to economic issues, attended by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Finance, and the First Vice-President, his wife Mehriban Aliyeva.
At this meeting, Heydar Aliyev was seated to the right of his mother, Mehriban Aliyeva. This was Heydar Aliyev’s first time participating in such an official meeting which did not welcome foreign guests but was a discussion of internal, economic issues.
Reactions within the country:
Since Heydar Aliyev doesn’t have any official position in any governmental bodies of the country, his appearance at the meeting of economic issues discussion raised questions.
Professor Jamil Hasanli, who was the main rival of Ilham Aliyev, in the 2013 presidential elections, compared it to the era of Iran’s former ruler Shah Reza Pahlavi.
“Back in the day, Shah Reza also seated his son, Mohammad Reza Shah, next to him during government meetings and state events. But Iran was officially a monarchy.” – Jamil Hasanli mentioned it in his Facebook post.
Who is the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan:
In 2016, a referendum was held in Azerbaijan, and as a result, the Constitution was amended. Based on those amendments, also the new status of vice-presidency was established and mentioned that there could be several vice-presidents of the country, despite the exact number of them never being declared. This became the second-highest state position after the president.
As already one family member of Ilham Aliyev, his wife was appointed as the first vice president, local activists expect that the second vice president also could be another family member of the president.
Mehriban Aliyeva was appointed as a vice-president in 2017.
