Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva (, ; 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.

Early life, family and marriage

Mehriban 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. Her 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.

Education and early career

Aliyeva finished secondary school number 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. Aliyeva got her PhD after defending a thesis on "Euthanasia and humanism issues in medicine" in 2005. 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. Leaked documents reveal that in 2003 she registered an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, Rosamund International Ltd. 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, which her husband is the leader of. 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 fraudulent 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, and she 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.

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.

Criticism

Freedom House reports that Heydar Aliyev Foundation headed by Aliyeva since its creation in 2014, while supporting cultural projects domestically and abroad, has been focusing on "burnishing the regime’s international image and advancing Baku’s official position on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh". It has also been criticized as a vehicle for corruption. It has been proven that the Aliyeva family has profited immensely from the foundation.

Political repression

Aliyeva has claimed that Azerbaijan is a land of political tolerance and denied claims of mass political imprisonment. When asked about the plight of imprisoned journalist Khadija Ismayilova and human rights advocate Leyla Yunus, Mehriban did not respond. Her appointment as vice president coincided with the detention of more opposition party activists, which may have been an attempt to stifle any attempts to protest the move. In Azerbaijan, power is concentrated in the hands of Aliyev and his extended family, and human rights violations include torture, arbitrary arrests, as well as harassment of journalists and non-governmental organizations.

Personal life

She 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. 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

Foreign honours

International organizations

Honorary degrees