[2][3][4][5][6][7][excessive citations] He leads an authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan; elections are not free and fair, political power is concentrated in the hands of Aliyev and his extended family, corruption is rampant, and human rights violations are severe (including torture, arbitrary arrests, as well as harassment of journalists and non-governmental organizations).

Then, in the fall of 2023, Azerbaijan initiated a military offensive in the disputed region which ended with the surrender of the self-declared Republic of Artsakh and mass displacement of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

[13] In 1977, Ilham Aliyev entered the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-MSIIR) and in 1982, continued his education as a postgraduate.

[29] In the 2013 presidential elections held on 9 October, Aliyev claimed victory with 85 percent of the vote, securing a third five-year term.

[citation needed] In 2013, Amnesty International called on western leaders to speak up against the arrest of Anar Mammadli, prominent human rights activist and head of the independent Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre, who was falsely charged with tax evasion and illegal business activity, after his organisation had reported widespread violations during the election.

[61][62][63] during a meeting with French entrepreneurs, he stated that the activities of some companies in the Republic of Artsakh is "unacceptable and violates international and national laws".

[65] French president François Hollande made a press statement in which he stated that "the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not the right option and he hopes that there can be a resumption of negotiations.

[69] On 29 June 2006, Ilham Aliyev and Dmitry Medvedev, former president of the Russian Federation, concluded a joint statement on the Caspian Sea.

[71][72] Aliyev met with Russian and Iranian leaders in Baku in 2016 to discuss terrorism, transnational organized crime, arms smuggling and drug trafficking in the region.

[73] the trilateral summit signed a declaration to develop the International North–South Transport Corridor, which would run from India to Saint Petersburg, providing better alternatives to existing sea routes.

On 8 August 2017, Transparency Azerbaijan announced that it had scaled back its operations in the capital city of Baku, because the government would not approve an extension of the funding as it comes from outside the country.

According to Transparency International "The blanket ban on foreign grants has brought the country's civil society to a halt and has dealt a devastating blow to civic initiatives across the board".

[107][108][109] Upon becoming president in 2003, Aliyev was positioned to enjoy a booming economy fueled by the oil and gas sector; Azerbaijan had the world's fastest rate of economic growth in the three-year period from 2005–2007.

[110] Persistent pledges by Aliyev and Azerbaijani elites to prioritize economic diversification yielded few major results,[110] as the country remained largely depended on oil and gas.

[118] The 2021 Pandora Papers leaks showed that the Aliyev family built a vast offshore network to hide their money.

[119][120][121] Andrew Higgins, writing in The Washington Post, stated in 2010 that Azerbaijanis with the same names as Ilham Aliyev's three children owned real estate in Dubai worth about $75 million.

Higgins stated that some members of the family are indeed wealthy, such as the president's older daughter, Leyla, married to Emin Agalarov, a Russian billionaire, and relatives of the first lady who have businesses in Azerbaijan.

[127][128][129] In a resolution on 10 September 2015, the European Parliament called on the EU authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of allegations of corruption against Ilham Aliyev and his family members.

[133][additional citation(s) needed] Aliyev was also included on a list of figures (others being the Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov, head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva) accused of accepting bribes of 1,000,000$ USD from MP candidates to guarantee their "election win" and inclusion to the parliament.

[2][3][144][145][146][147] Human rights violations in Azerbaijan during Aliyev's presidency include torture,[137] arbitrary arrests and harassment of journalists and non-governmental organizations.

On 20 July the U.S. State Department urged Azerbaijan to avoid using the pandemic to silence "civil society advocacy, opposition voices, or public discussion".

According to RFE/RL, "Aliyev's authoritarian rule has shut down independent media outlets and suppressed opposition parties while holding elections deemed neither free nor fair by international monitoring groups".

[149] In 2012, Aliyev convinced the government of Hungary to transfer convicted murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan to complete the rest of his prison term.

However, after being extradited to Azerbaijan, Safarov received a hero's welcome, promoted to the rank of major, and given an apartment and over eight years of back pay, covering the time he had spent in jail.

[157] In 2008, Aliyev declared that "Nagorno Karabakh will not be independent; the position is backed by international mediators as well; Armenia has to accept the reality", and also stated that "in 1918, Yerevan was granted to the Armenians.

"[163][164] Aliyev's irredentist statements have drawn criticism from EU officials and human rights organizations specializing in genocide studies.

[165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173] During a speech on 10 November 2020, Aliyev directly referred to Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan by mockingly saying Nə oldu Paşinyan?

"[179] In 2013 he defined much of Armenia as "historical lands" of the Azerbaijanis, promising them that they will live there "in the future", including in "Irevan and Zangezur regions", to which he sometimes adds "Geicha", Meghri, and Goris.

In 2018, when he became the New Azerbaijan Party's presidential candidate, he repeated his call for "the return of Azerbaijanis to these lands" and declared this to be "our political and strategic goal, and we must gradually approach it.

[181] Source:[182] Aliyev has also received honorary degrees from universities from the following states: Turkmenistan, Belarus, Russia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania, Jordan, Hungary, Azerbaijan, and South Korea.