Azerbaijani Leaders Stats

Ilham Aliyev took over as president from his father, Heydar, in 2003.

Heydar Aliyev described his son as his "political successor". When his father died, Ilham was already prime minister, vice chairman of the state oil company and deputy leader of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP).

He won the 2003 presidential elections by a landslide. Western observers were highly critical of the campaign which they said had been marred by voter intimidation, violence and media bias. Opposition demonstrations were met with police violence. There were many arrests.

Heydar Aliyev, a former Soviet Communist leader, reinvented himself as a post-independence political strongman and had ruled Azerbaijan with an iron fist since 1993 following a period of great instability. His record on human rights and media freedom was often criticised in the West.

The opposition has strong doubts about Ilham Aliyev's commitment to democracy.

These were reinforced when police used force to break up opposition demonstrations in Baku in befire November 2005 parliamentary elections in which the ruling NAP won well over half of the seats. EU and OSCE observers said the process fell far short of international standards.

Boycott

Mr Aliyev won a second term of office in 2008, scoring an overwhelming victory in an election that was boycotted by the main opposition parties. Western observers said that, despite being an improvement on previous votes, it fell short of fully democratic standards.

He looked set to cement his grip on power even further when a move to lift the two-term limit on the president was approved in a referendum in March 2009, paving the way for a possible third term.

In November 2010, the ruling NAP increased its already healthy majority in parliamentary elections, with the main opposition party failing to win a single seats. International observers again criticised the vote.

And in 2013 Mr Aliyev won a third five-year term.

Ilham Aliyev was born in 1961 and has a doctorate in history. His business interests have enabled him to build substantial personal wealth since independence. He is married with three children.