Mehriban Aliyeva facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mehriban Aliyeva
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Mehriban Əliyeva
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Aliyeva in 2023
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| Vice President of Azerbaijan | |
| Assumed office 21 February 2017 |
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| President | Ilham Aliyev |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| First Lady of Azerbaijan | |
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Current
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| Assumed role 31 October 2003 |
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| President | Ilham Aliyev |
| Preceded by | Halima Aliyeva (1993) |
| Deputy Leader of the New Azerbaijan Party | |
| Assumed office 7 June 2013 |
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| Leader | Ilham Aliyev |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
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Mehriban Arif qızı Paşayeva
26 August 1964 Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | New Azerbaijan Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Leyla Arzu Heydar |
| Alma mater | Azerbaijan Medical University |
| Signature |  |
| Website | mehriban-aliyeva.az/en |
Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva (née Pashayeva; Azerbaijani: Mehriban Arif qızı Əliyeva Paşayeva, IPA: [mehɾiˈbɑn ɑˈɾif ɡɯˈzɯ æˈlijevɑ pɑˈʃɑjevɑ]; born 26 August 1964) is an Azerbaijani politician and physician who is the vice president and First Lady of Azerbaijan.
She is married to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan. Aliyev created the position of vice president in 2017 and appointed his wife to the position.
Contents
Early life, family and marriage
Mehriban Aliyeva (née Pashayeva) was born in Baku, and is from a family described in leaked US Embassy cables as "the single most powerful family in Azerbaijan." Her grandfather was the writer Mir Jalal Pashayev, an Iranian Azerbaijani born in Iran. Her uncle Hafiz Pashayev was Azerbaijan's first Ambassador to the United States. Aliyeva's father Arif Pashayev is Rector of the National Aviation Academy in Baku, and her mother, Aida Imanguliyeva (1939–1992) was a philologist and Arabist, daughter of the journalist and pedagogue Nasir Imanguliyev.
Mehriban Aliyeva married Ilham Aliyev, the son of Heydar Aliyev, in Baku on 22 December 1983. The Aliyevs have two daughters, Leyla (born 3 July 1984) and Arzu (born 23 January 1989) and a son Heydar (born 2 August 1997). Leyla is the editor of Baku magazine, published by Azerbaijani Russian businessman Aras Agalarov, and was married to his son Emin Agalarov.
Education and early career
Aliyeva finished secondary school №23 in 1982. She entered the Preventive-Treatment Faculty of the Azerbaijan Medical University, in which she excelled, and later continued her studies at the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, from which she graduated in 1988. From 1988–92, Mehriban Aliyeva worked at the State Research Institute of Eye Diseases of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow, which was led by Dr. Mikhail Krasnov. ..... Two articles in The Times in 2005 described her as a "qualified physician" and "former eye doctor."
Career
In 1995, she established the Azerbaijani Culture Friends Foundation. In 1996, she founded the magazine "Azerbaijan - Heritage" published in three languages (Azerbaijani, English and Russian) in order to promote Azerbaijani culture.
Aliyeva established on 10 May 2004 the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which focuses on studying and holding events to promote Heydar Aliyev's political ideology. In Azerbaijan, according to a recent news article, "The HAF builds more schools than Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education, more hospitals than the Ministry of Health, and conducts more cultural events than the Ministry of Culture." The Heydar Aliyev Foundation also sponsors projects outside Azerbaijan, including helping to finance renovations at the Louvre Museum, Palace of Versailles, and Strasbourg Cathedral.
She is UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and Goodwill Ambassador of ISESCO. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan at the 4th General Assembly of the NOC on 28 December 2004.
Since 2004, she is a member of the Political Board of the New Azerbaijan Party. She was selected as the deputy chairperson of the Party in June 2013. She was appointed by her husband as the chairperson of the Organizing Committee for the 1st European Games in Baku.
Member of Parliament
In Azerbaijan's 2005 parliamentary elections, she was elected to the National Assembly of Azerbaijan. Her candidacy was run by the New Azerbaijan Party from the Azizbeyov Second Constituency №14, was elected to the Parliament with 92.12% of the votes. She had previously broken with tradition to help campaign for her husband in 2003, when he ran for President of Azerbaijan. The Sunday Times, writing in 2005 about Aliyeva's decision to run for the Azerbaijani parliament, described her as already wielding "considerable influence," and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation as "a powerful and wealthy institution set up to safeguard the late president’s legacy and support a number of educational and charitable projects." She was nominated from Khazar Constituency №14 in 2010 and 2015 parliamentary elections and gained 94.49% of the votes in 2010, 96.7% in 2015.
During her MP period, Mehriban Aliyeva appealed to Milli Majlis for the adoption of amnesty acts on 28 May – Republic Day. As a result, in 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2016, more than 30,000 prisoners were released from different sentences.
She became the head of Azerbaijan-France working group on inter-parliamentary relations according to the decision of Milli Majlis on 4 March 2016.
Vice president
On 21 February 2017, she was appointed First Vice President of Azerbaijan by her husband Ilham Aliyev, the president and authoritarian leader of Azerbaijan. If her husband would step down, she would become President of Azerbaijan. This was an office that was created through a constitutional referendum in 2016 which Ilham Aliyev had ordered. The referendum also lowered the age requirement for president, making it possible for Aliyev's son, Heydar Aliyev Jr., then 19 years old, to become president. Critics said these changes were intended to consolidate the family's dynastic rule.
Personal life
Aliyeva has undergone extensive plastic surgery. During a Baku visit, US officials claimed to be unable to immediately distinguish Aliyeva from her two daughters Arzu and Leyla thanks to the extensive operations.
Awards and honours
National honours and medals
Azerbaijan – The Public Figure of 2004- Azerbaijan – Heydar Aliyev Order
- Azerbaijan – The Person of 2005
- Azerbaijan – Woman of Year (2005)
- Azerbaijan – The Person of 2015
- Azerbaijan – Cossack Glory
- Azerbaijan – Academician Mikayil Huseynov Medal (2017)
- Azerbaijan – Uzeir Hajibeyli honorary medal
Foreign honours
France – Legion of Honour
Kuwait – Honorary Diploma of the State of Kuwait
Pakistan – Hilal-e-Pakistan
Poland – Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
Serbia – Sretenjski Orden
Russia – 'Ruby Cross' Order of Philanthropists of the Century International Charity Foundation of Russia- Russia – Golden Heart International Award
- Russia – Order of "For Services to Astrakhan Region"
Switzerland – Gold Medal of the Crans Montana Forum- Switzerland – “Prix de la Fondation” Prize of the Crans Montana Forum
- Pakistan – "The Symbol of Humanism - The Person of 2012"
- Pakistan – Martyr Benazir Bhutto Woman Perfection Prize - 2013
Greece – Elpida Award
Hungary – Commander's Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
Bulgaria – Diploma of an honorary citizen of Veliko Tyrnovo- Russia – Saint Princess Olga Order of 2nd degree of the Russian Orthodox Church
Italy – Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (12 July 2018)- Russia – Order of Friendship (13 August 2019)
Vatican – Order of Pope Pius IX, Dame Grand Cross (22 February 2020)
International organizations
- UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
- Goodwill Ambassador of ISESCO
- Ihsan Doğramacı Family Health Foundation Prize
- UNESCO Mozart Medal
- High Order of the European Olympic Committee
Honorary degrees
- Bulgaria – Honorary doctor of the Veliko Tarnovo University
- Russia – Honorary Professor of the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University
Israel – Honorary doctor of the Israel Medical Academy
See also
In Spanish: Mehriban Aliyeva para niños
