Heydar Aliyev

Heydar Aliyev spent nearly three decades in Soviet state security organs beginning in 1941, then governed Soviet Azerbaijan as First Secretary of the Communist Party from 1969 to 1982, rising through Moscow's hierarchy with backing from Brezhnev and Andropov to become First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union until 1987. After Azerbaijan's independence and its first free election in 1992 brought dissident Abulfaz Elchibey to power, a military coup in 1993 ousted Elchibey and installed Aliyev as president, ending the country's brief democratic interlude. He won a presidential election with nearly 99% of the vote shortly after taking charge. His rule has been described as dictatorial and repressive, marked by rigged elections, suppressed dissent, and a heavy-handed police state. A cult of personality formed around him and persisted after his death in 2003, when his son Ilham Aliyev succeeded him in a fraudulent election and remains in power.