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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev celebrates his 48th birthday

24 December 2009 02:06 (UTC +04:00)

He attended a secondary school in Baku from 1967 till 1977. In 1977, he entered the Moscow State University of International Relations (MSUIR). In 1982, upon his graduation, Ilham Aliyev had continued his education as a postgraduate student in MSUIR.
In 1985, he finalized his research works and received a PhD degree in history. During the years of 1985-1990, he gave lectures at the Moscow State University of International Relations. From 1991 to 1994, he led a group of private industrial-commercial enterprises. In 1994-2003, he was the vise-president, and later the first vise-president of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). He had been actively involved in the implementation of Heydar Aliyevâ€™s oil strategy.

In 1995 and 2000, he was twice elected to the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan. From 2001 to 2003, he was the head of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE). In January 2003, he was elected as Deputy-Chairman of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and member of the PACE bureau. In 2003, he stopped his activity as a Member of Parliament due to his appointment to the post of Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In October 15, 2003, he was elected as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. More than 76% of voters supported Ilham Aliyevâ€™s candidacy during the elections. He assumed his post on 31 October, 2003. Ilham Aliyev was elected to the second term of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, after acquiring 88% of votes of electorate in the elections, held on October 15, 2008.

Since 1997, Ilham Aliyev is the President of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan. For his great contribution to the development of sports and Olympic movement, Mr. Aliyev was awarded the highest order of International Olympic Committee and â€œGrand Cordonâ€ Order of Merit of International Military Sport Council. Ilham Aliyev is fluent in Azerbaijani, English, Russian, French, and Turkish.

He is married, has three children and two grandchildren.