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Heydar Aliyev

Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev (Latin), Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев (Cyrillic), ; Гейда́р Али́евич Али́ев, ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003.

He was a high-ranking official in the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR, serving for 28 years in Soviet state security organs (1941–1969). He governed Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. He held the post of First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1987. He rose through the ranks due to his close associations with Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov.

Aliyev was installed as president of Azerbaijan after the 1993 military coup ousted President Abulfaz Elchibey. Elchibey was a prominent Soviet dissident and Azerbaijani nationalist leader who had been elected as president in independent Azerbaijan's first free election in 1992. Aliyev's installation as president put an end to Azerbaijan's short post-independence democratic interlude. Shortly after taking charge, Aliyev organized a presidential election where he won nearly 99% of the vote.

His regime in Azerbaijan has been described as dictatorial,   authoritarian,    and repressive. He was also said to have run a heavy-handed police state where elections were rigged and dissent was repressed. A cult of personality developed around Aliyev, which has continued after his death in 2003. Shortly before his death, his son Ilham Aliyev was elected president in a fraudulent election and continues to lead Azerbaijan to this day.

Early life
According to both his official biography and the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Aliyev was born on 10 May 1923 in the city of Nakhchivan. His family had moved to Nakhchivan before his birth from the village of Comardlı (modern-day Tanahat in the Syunik Province of Armenia), located only a few miles from Nakhchivan. Some sources claim that Aliyev was actually born 2 years earlier in Comardlı, but that it was later decided that a senior Azerbaijani politician should not have an Armenian place of birth. His father was from Comardlı and his mother was from Vorotan (also in modern-day Syunik Province of Armenia). Aliyev had four brothers: Hasan, Huseyn, Jalal, and Agil, as well as three sisters: Sura, Shafiga and Rafiga.

After graduating from the Nakhchivan Pedagogical School, Aliyev attended the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University) from 1939 to 1941, where he studied architecture. In 1949 and 1950, he studied at the USSR Ministry of State Security Higher School in Leningrad. Aliyev's official biography also states that he studied at Baku State University, graduating with a degree in history in 1957. According to American journalist Pete Earley, Aliyev first attended the Ministry of State Security Academy in Leningrad and graduated in 1944. He also took Senior Staff Professional Development courses at the Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB in Moscow in 1966.

In 1948, Aliyev married Zarifa Aliyeva. On 12 October 1955, their daughter Sevil Aliyeva was born. On 24 December 1961, their son Ilham was born. Zarifa Aliyeva died of cancer in 1985.

Early career
During World War II, he served as commander of a Smersh battalion, which conducted intelligence operations on the Soviet Union's own forces and executed soldiers who deserted or fought insufficiently hard.

He joined the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) in 1944 and proceeded to become the department head of the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan SSR in 1950, after he graduated from the Senior Staff Training School of the USSR State Security Committee.

In 1954, as part of a government reform, the NKGB, which was previously named the Ministry of State Security (MGB), was again renamed, this time as the KGB. Sources point to Aliyev working in the Azerbaijani KGB‘s Eastern Division, which included Iran and the Middle East. During this time, Aliyev was a close associate of Semyon Tvsigun. Aliyev became head of the Azerbaijani KGB in 1960 and eventually received the rank of major general. During his time in Soviet secret service, Aliyev was mostly unknown in Azerbaijan.

From KGB to leader of Azerbaijan SSR
Aliyev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan Communist Party at its Plenary Session held on 12 July 1969. He was reportedly selected for the job by Brezhnev after his friend Semyon Tsvigun, Brezhnev's brother-in-law, advocated for Aliyev's selection.

Aliyev subsequently dominated affairs in Soviet-era Azerbaijan. Described as the "Monarch of Azerbaijan", Aliyev established an extensive patronage network across Azerbaijan and profited on the black market. According to Harold James Perkin, Aliyev was "surrounded by female ‘volunteers’ whose services were mainly sexual."

In his obituary, The Washington Post wrote, "He made a name for himself by smashing local mafia groups, but his personal circle moved in to profit off oil, caviar and other sectors." Aliyev was selective in his anti-corruption campaign, as he targeted those that refused to cooperate with him but rewarding and elevating those that did.

Aliyev frequently treated Brezhnev with lavish gifts. The gifts include a ‘Sun-king’ diamond ring worth 226,000 roubles and a jewel-encrusted framed protrait to Brezhnev. Aliyev built a palace for Brezhnev's personal use for his official visit in 1982.

He promoted individuals from his native Nakhichevan to leadership positions in the Azerbaijan SSR. He also promoted Azerbaijani culture and language.

In the early 1980s, Aliyev barred the children of certain legal personnel from attending the republic's law school, in a purported effort to curb a self-perpetuating elite based on corruption.

Aliyev was subsequently promoted to the Moscow Politburo in 1976.

Career in Moscow
Aliyev became a candidate (non-voting) member of the Soviet Politburo in 1976. He held this position until December 1982, when Yuri Andropov promoted him to the office of First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and made him a full member of the Politburo. Aliyev also served at the Council of Ministers as the first deputy chairman in 1974–1979.

Aliyev supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. At the 1981 Party Congress, Aliyev praised Brezhnev profusely.

On 22 November 1982, Andropov promoted Aliyev from a candidate to a full member of the Soviet Politburo and appointed him to the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, responsible for transportation and social services. Aliyev thus attained the highest position ever reached by an Azerbaijani in the Soviet Union.

Aliyev was dismissed from his position as First Deputy Premier and from the Politburo by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, officially on health grounds, but the two had fallen out over Gorbachev's anti-corruption campaign. Aliyev had fallen out with Gorbachev and was one of the gold guard cleared out as part of Gorbachev's Perestroika.

Fall and re-invention
After his forced retirement in 1987, Aliyev remained in Moscow until 1990. He suffered a heart attack during this time. Aliyev publicly opposed the January 1990 Soviet military crackdown in Baku, which had followed the continuing conflict regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.

Almost immediately after this public appearance, Aliyev left Moscow for his native Nakhchivan. There, Aliyev reinvented himself as a moderate nationalist. He was elected the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR in Baku in October 1990. Under the pressure and criticism from groups connected to his nemesis, the leader of Soviet Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutallibov, Aliyev again returned to Nakhchivan, where he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Nakhchivan in 1991. He resigned that same year from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

By December 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved and Azerbaijan formally became an independent state, Aliyev independently governed Nakhchivan in spite of Mutallibov's presidency. Early 1992 saw increased violence in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War following the fall of Shusha, the last Azerbaijani-populated town in Nagorno-Karabakh. These events resulted in Mutallibov's resignation and the subsequent rise to power of the Azerbaijan Popular Front led by Abulfaz Elchibey. Elchibey was elected as president in Azerbaijan's first free and fair elections in 1992.

During Elchibey's one year in power, Aliyev continued to govern Nakhchivan without any deference to the official government in Baku. The attempt by the Popular Front's Minister of Interior Isgandar Hamidov to forcibly overthrow Aliyev in Nakhchivan was thwarted by local militia at the regional airport. During the same period, Aliyev independently negotiated a cease-fire agreement in Nakhchivan with the then-President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

Aliyev was elected as the leader of New Azerbaijan Party at its constituent congress organized in Nakhchivan on 21 November 1992.

1993 Azerbaijani coup
In 1993, Elchibey was ousted from power in a Russia-backed military coup led by Surat Huseynov, a military commander that Elchibey had fired. Aliyev was installed as President, and Aliyev in turn appointed Huseynov as prime minister. According to historian Audrey Altsadt and Thomas de Waal, Aliyev did not appear to have a direct role in the coup. In August 1993, Elchibey was stripped of his presidency by a nationwide referendum.

Aliyev disbanded 33 battalions loyal to Elchibey's Popular Front party. Amid this turmoil, Azerbaijan lost enormous swaths of territory to Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and had effectively lost the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Presidency
On 3 October 1993, Aliyev organized the 1993 Azerbaijani presidential election where he allowed two unknown candidates to run against him. He was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with 98.8 percent of the vote. On 11 October 1998, he was re-elected, winning 77 percent of the vote. Aliyev was nominated as a candidate in the 2003 presidential elections, but declined to run in the elections in connection with health problems.

Final year of war
When Aliyev became chairman of the Supreme Soviet in June 1993, Azerbaijan was suffering from internal division and military collapse, which allowed Armenian forces to capture most of five districts in the southwest of Azerbaijan without meeting significant resistance, leading to the displacement of around 350,000 people. After taking the office of president, Aliyev disbanded units loyal to the ousted Azerbaijani Popular Front and ordered the creation of a new national army. Tens of thousands of young men with no fighting experience were conscripted to this end. At the same time, Aliyev conducted negotiations with the Armenian side: he had already confidentially met with Karabakh Armenian leader Robert Kocharyan twice in Moscow soon before assuming the presidency, and Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives had agreed to prolong a ceasefire in September 1993. The negotiations bore no results and the ceasefire did not hold, however, and Armenian forces captured additional territories soon after Aliyev's inauguration. In the winter of 1993–1994, Azerbaijani forces attempted to recapture territories on different parts of the frontline. While Azerbaijani forces managed to recapture part of Fuzuli District, the operation to retake Kalbajar District was a disastrous failure, with thousands of Azerbaijani soldiers killed or frozen to death in the mountains north of Kalbajar.

1994 ceasefire and peace negotiations
In May 1994, with Aliyev's approval, a ceasefire agreement was signed by representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which successfully put an end to the hostilities in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. While agreeing to the ceasefire, Aliyev rejected Russian proposals to deploy a peacekeeping contingent to Nagorno-Karabakh. Following the ceasefire, Aliyev periodically engaged in negotiations with the Armenian side mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chair countries (Russia, France and the United States) for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. At the OSCE Lisbon Summit in December 1996, all of the OSCE member states except for Armenia signed a declaration affirming Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and stating that Nagorno-Karabakh's right to self-determination should be realized in the form of "the highest degree of self-rule within Azerbaijan".

Aliyev reportedly agreed to a "phased solution" to the conflict proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs in September 1997, which envisioned the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh (besides the Lachin District) and the deployment of international peacekeepers, followed by negotiations on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh in subsequent phases; the proposal was never realized as Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan failed to win support for it from his own government and was forced to resign in February 1998. Aliyev participated in bilateral talks with the new president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, in spring 1999 and again in January 2001. Further, more substantial talks were held in Key West, Florida with American mediation in April 2001. The proposals negotiated at Key West have never been published, although it is reported that Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor were to be effectively ceded to Armenia while Azerbaijan would regain the seven occupied districts and receive land access to Nakhchivan through Armenian territory. Despite initial reports that the two sides were closer than ever to coming to a final agreement, Aliyev, who is said to have met significant opposition to the conditions from his inner circle, declined to go forward with the agreement after returning to Azerbaijan. The Key West negotiations were the last major negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during Aliyev's presidency.

Constitutional reform
Aliyev assembled the Constitutional Commission in June 1995 to create a constitution to replace the 1978 Azerbaijan SSR Constitution. The first draft was ready in October for public debate and the final version consisted of 5 chapters, 12 sections and 147 articles. The new constitution was confirmed by a referendum held on 12 November 1995. To ensure separation of power, the constitution created 3 divisions: legislative (Milli Majlis), executive (President) and judicial (courts).

Aliyev suggested amendments to the Constitution of Azerbaijan in June 2002. The first amendment to the Constitution of Azerbaijan was approved as the result of the 2002 Azerbaijani constitutional referendum, which was married by fraud. Consequently, 39 amendments to 23 articles of the Constitution of Azerbaijan were made. These included the abolition of proportional party-list elections to Parliament, a change in the presidential line of succession to favor the Prime Minister instead of the Chairman of Milli Majlis, the favoring of a simple majority when calculating presidential election results, and the establishment of rights for citizens, courts and ombudsmen to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan.

Repression of veterans groups
Aliyev perceived the military as a threat to his rule. Many of the military commanders from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were imprisoned by his government. When war veterans from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict protested against his government, the government arrested many of them and shut down the veterans rights organization.

Abolition of death penalty
Aliyev requested the elimination of the death penalty on 3 February 1998. Milli Majlis approved the draft law on 10 February 1998. As a result, capital punishment was replaced with life imprisonment. Azerbaijan joined the "Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty" on 22 January 1999.

Agrarian and land reform
Agrarian reforms implemented during the Aliyev administration can be divided into 2 phases:

 * 1995–1997 – During the first phase, the legislative base for an agrarian sector was reestablished through the adoption of a number of legislative documents. Privatization of Azerbaijani agriculture through the dissolution of the traditional collective and state farms was the focus of these laws. Examples of these laws include "the Basis of Agrarian Reform" (18 February 1995); "Reform of state and collective farms" (18 February 1995); and "Land Reform" (16 July 1996). On 10 January 1997 Aliyev issued a Decree on "Approval of some legal documents assuring implementation of agrarian reforms". The State Commission on Agrarian Reforms was formed by Aliyev on 2 March 1995.
 * 1998–2001 – The second phase focused on post-privatization support and the removal of bureaucratic barriers for more effective implementation of these reforms. The Ministry of Agriculture was reorganized by a presidential decree dated 6 June 1998 (On Ratification of the Statue on the Ministry of Agriculture), the law on "State land cadaster, land monitoring and structure" (22 December 1998), a decree on "Land rent" (12 March 1999), and a law on "land market" (7 May 1999). The Land Code of Azerbaijani Republic was approved by the Law on "Approval of Land Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan" (25 June 1999).

Relations with United Nations
During Aliyev's presidency, Azerbaijan began actively participating within international organizations such as the United Nations. Aliyev attended the 49th session of the UN General Assembly (UN GA) in 1994 and the special session of UN GA dedicated to 50th anniversary of United Nations in October 1995. He received former Secretary General of UN Boutros Boutros-Ghali in October 1994 in Baku. Aliyev met with Secretary General Kofi Annan during his trip to the US in 1997 July. Aliyev addressed the Millennium Summit of UN held in September 2000, where he talked about the Armenian invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions, and mentioned UN resolutions 822, 853, 874, 884, which demanded unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. After 11 September attacks, Azerbaijan joined the anti-terror coalition of UN and cooperated with Office of Counter-Terrorism and Sanctions Committee of the UN SC. In October 2001, Azerbaijan joined the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism adopted by UN SC in 1999.

Relations with NATO
The Partnership for Peace (PfP) Framework Document was signed to enhance security and defense cooperation with NATO on 4 May 1994. Aliyev approved the PfP Presentation Document on 19 April 1996. In November 1997, Azerbaijan joined the PfP Planning and Review Process. NATO PA also made Azerbaijan an associate member of NATO in November.

Relations with EU
The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan was signed in Luxembourg on 22 April 1996, and went into effect on 22 June 1999. It promises cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, economy, legislation, culture, immigration and the prevention of illicit trade. Azerbaijan received assistance from the EU for economic reforms in the country through the TACIS and TRACECA programmes. The “Restoration of the Historic Silk Road” international conference was organized in Baku on 8 September 1998 by Aliyev and President Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia with the support of the TACIS and TRACECA programmes.

Relations with Council of Europe
Azerbaijan participated as a specially invited guest at the Council of Europe (CoE) on 28 June 1996. Consequently, a number of resolutions and legal acts were adopted from 1996–2001 to improve the Azerbaijani legislative system so it could fulfill the requirements of European standards and international law. On 28 June 2000, Azerbaijan's full admission to the CoE was recommended at the session of Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE. Azerbaijan became a full member of the CoE on 17 January 2001; the official ceremony was conducted on 25 January 2001. Presidential orders “On the implementation of the measures of the program of cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Republic of Azerbaijan” (8 July 1996), "On the measures of Deepening Cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Republic of Azerbaijan" (20 January 1998), and “On the measures of expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and CoE for defending interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Council of Europe" (14 May 1999) were adopted by Aliyev.

Relations with Russia
Aliyev prioritized establishing warmer relations with Russia more than the previous leadership of Azerbaijan did. He stated in his speech at Milli Majlis on 15 June 1993, after being elected as the head of Parliament of Azerbaijan: "Russia, our northern neighbor, is absolutely a vast state. Undoubtedly, the relation based on independent principles between Azerbaijan and Russia must be better, broader and more fruitful." The Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between Russia and Azerbaijan was signed on 3 July 1997. Aliyev paid his first official trip to Russia as a President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in July 1997 with the invitation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Relations with Russia further developed through Aliyev-Putin negotiations during their bilateral visits (Vladimir Putin visited Azerbaijan in 2001 and Aliyev paid a reciprocal visit to Russia in 2002). The agreements on "The Status and Benefiting Principles of Gabala Radio Location Station", "Long term economic cooperation agreement between Russian Federation and the Azerbaijan Republic until the year 2010", and "The common declaration of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev" were signed in the latter meeting.

Relations with US
Establishing closer relations and developing cooperation with the US were among the main goals of Aliyev's foreign policy. He stated in one of his speeches regarding this issue: “The relations of Azerbaijan with the United States are important as we need to learn the Western democracy, culture, achievements, to benefit from them, to use and apply them in Azerbaijan. In this regard, the United States is a special country for us." Relations between the two countries strengthened after oil contracts were signed. Aliyev paid his first official visit to the US and met with President Bill Clinton on 1 August 1997. They signed a Joint Statement on future relations between the US and Azerbaijan in defense and military issues. During this trip (27 July-5 August 1997), a statement on intentions of formation of bilateral dialogue between the US and Azerbaijan regarding energy issues and the general agreement between the Government of the Azerbaijani Republic, the National Bank, and the US Export-Import Bank on the promotion of projects were signed. Additionally, 4 agreements on development and production sharing for the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea were signed. After the visit, Aliyev issued an order on “Measures to expand partnership relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United States” on 2 September 1997. Azerbaijan joined a US-lead international coalition against terrorism after 11 September attacks, and sent a military contingent to Afghanistan. An amendment to the Freedom Support Act was adopted on 24 October 2002 by the US Senate to allow a US president to temporarily waive Section 907, which used to forbid to export any financial or humanitarian support to Azerbaijan.

Oil strategy

Aliyev used the oil potential of Azerbaijan to avoid the difficulties his country faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union by attracting foreign investment into Azerbaijan. After a year-long series of negotiations in Baku, Istanbul and Houston, the “Agreement on the Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri and Chirag Fields and the Deep Water Portion of the Gunashli Field in the Azerbaijan Sector of the Caspian Sea” was signed in Baku on 20 September 1994 by the Government of Azerbaijan and a consortium of 11 oil companies from 6 countries (US, UK, Russia, Norway, Turkey, Saudi Arabia) in the presence of Aliyev.

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established by Presidential Decree in December 1999 to gather the income gained from oil profit with the aim of financing social and economic projects. As a result of the oil strategy developed by Aliyev, Azerbaijani oil was planned to be carried through different routes as Baku–Supsa, Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), etc. In order to export Azerbaijani oil to the European market, the presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey agreed to construct the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 1998 in Ankara. The ground-breaking ceremony of BTC took place in September 2002 with the participation of Aliyev, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and Georgian President Edward Shevardnadze.

The decision to export Azerbaijani crude oil to the Port of Novorossiysk was made through a contract signed in Moscow on 18 February 1996. Oil transportation through this route was realized in October 1997. Establishment of the alternative Baku–Supsa route was agreed on 8 March 1996 by Aliyev and Shevardnadze. The Baku–Supsa route began operation in April 1999.

Death and successor

Aliyev's health began to fail in 1999 when he had a major heart bypass operation in the United States at the Cleveland Clinic. He later had prostate surgery and a hernia operation. He collapsed while giving a speech on live television in April 2003. On 6 August, Aliyev returned to the US for treatment of congestive heart failure and kidney problems. He did not return to Azerbaijan again.

Less than two weeks before the 2003 Azerbaijani presidential election, he withdrew his candidacy and appointed his son Ilham as his party's sole presidential candidate. On 12 December 2003, President Aliyev died at the Cleveland Clinic. He was given a large state funeral and buried at the Alley of Honor cemetery in Baku.

Heydar Aliyev's son Ilham Aliyev won a presidential election on 15 October 2003 widely considered to have been fraudulent. International observers criticized the contest as falling well below expected standards.

Honours

Throughout his life, Aliyev was awarded a number of state orders and medals, international awards, and elected honourable doctor of universities in many countries. Awards he has received include the Order of Lenin five times, the Order of the Red Star once, and Hero of the Socialist Labor twice. On 27 March 1997 in Kyiv, Ukraine, Aliyev received Ukraine's highest award, the Yaroslav Mudry Order, and on 13 April 1999, Turkey's highest honour, the Atatürk International Peace Prize. On 3 April 2003, he was elected a professor and authorized member of the Academy of Safety of the Russian Federation, and was subsequently awarded the Premium of Yuri Andropov. On 10 May 2003, he was decorated with the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called—Russia's supreme award. A statue of Aliyev has been unveiled in a Tašmajdan Park in Belgrade; its renovation was aided by 2 million euros ($2.9 million) from the Azerbaijani government. In August 2012 a statue of Aliyev which had been gifted to Mexico by the Azerbaijani embassy was installed in a park in Mexico City but was removed the following January after proving controversial. On April 10, 2023, Heydar Aliyev Street was opened in the center of Astana, the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan took part in the opening ceremony.

Full list of honours and awards

 * Soviet Union
 * Hero of Socialist Labour, twice (1979, 1983)
 * Five Orders of Lenin (1971, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1983)
 * Order of the October Revolution (1982)
 * Order of the Red Star (1962)
 * Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (1985)
 * Medal "For Battle Merit"
 * Medal "For Labour Valour"
 * Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" (1944)
 * Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
 * Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1965)
 * Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1975)
 * Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1985)
 * Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
 * Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
 * Medal "Veteran of Labour" (1974)
 * Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1976)
 * Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (1948)
 * Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1957)
 * Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1967)
 * Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1978)
 * Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1988)
 * Medal "For Impeccable Service" Second Class (1959)
 * Medal "For Impeccable Service" First Class (1964)

 * Other
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey: First Class of the Order of the State of Republic of Turkey (1997)
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine: Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class (20 March 1997) – "for outstanding contribution to the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Azerbaijan and strengthening friendship between the Ukrainian and Azeri people"
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey: Silk Road Service Award by the Silk Road Fund (1998)
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey: Atatürk International Peace Prize (1999)
 * 🇷🇺 Russia: Order of St. Andrew (10 May 2003) – "for his great personal contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan"
 * 🇷🇺 Russia: Chuvash National Prize named after Ivan Yakovlev (2000)
 * Georgia: Order of the Golden Fleece (2001)
 * 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan: Astana Medal
 * 🇫🇷 France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (2003)
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine: "Gloria Populi" award of Golden Fortune International Scientific Organization
 * Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1st class (ROC)
 * Order "Sheikh-ul-Islam" (posthumously)

title: Heydar Aliyev


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Burgas Province

Burgas Province (Област Бургас, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The province is named after its administrative and industrial centre, the city of Burgas, the fourth biggest town in the country. It is the largest province by area, with a territory of 7,748.1 km2 that is divided into 13 municipalities. It has a total population, as of December 2009, of 422,319 inhabitants.

Municipalities
Burgas Province (област, oblast) contains 13 municipalities. The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village (towns are shown in bold), and the population of each as of 2009.

Demographics
Burgas Province had a population of 423,608 (423,547 also given) according to a 2001 census, of which 49.0% were male and 51.0% were female. As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 422,319 of which 21.8% are inhabitants aged over 60 years.

Ethnic groups
Total population (2011 census): 415,817 Ethnic groups (2011 census): Identified themselves: 370 544 persons: A further 45,000 persons in Burgas Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
 * Bulgarians: 298 128 (80,46%)
 * Turks: 49 354 (13,32%)
 * Romani: 18 424 (4,97%)
 * Others and indefinable: 4 638 (1,25%)

Ethnic groups according to the 2001 census, when 423 547 people of the population of 423,608 of Burgas Province identified themselves (with percentage of total population):
 * Bulgarians: 338 625
 * Turks: 58 636
 * Romani: 19 439
 * Russians: 1 107
 * Armenians: 904
 * Vlachs (Aromanians, Romanians, Romanian-speaking Boyash): 623
 * Ukrainians: 185
 * Greeks: 125

Religion
Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:

Towns and villages
The place names in bold have the status of town (град). Other localities have the status of village (село).

Aytos Municipality
Aytos, Cherna Mogila, Chernograd, Chukarka, Dryankovets, Karageorgievo, Karanovo, Lyaskovo, Malka Polyana, Maglen, Peshtersko, Pirne, Polyanovo, Raklinovo, Sadievo, Topolitsa, Zetyovo

Burgas Municipality
Balgarovo, Banevo, Bratovo, Bryastovets, Burgas, Cherno More, Dimchevo, Draganovo, Izvorishte, Marinka, Mirolyubovo, Ravnets, Rudnik, Tvarditsa, Vetren

Kameno Municipality
Kameno, Krastina, Livada, Konstantinovo, Polski Izvor, Rusokastro, Svoboda, Troyanovo, Trastikovo, Cherni Vrah, Vinarsko, Vratitsa, Zhelyazovo

Karnobat Municipality
Asparuhovo, Cherkovo, Detelina, Devetak, Devetintsi, Dobrinovo, Dragantsi, Dragovo, Ekzarh Antimovo, Glumche, Hadzhiite, Iskra, Karnobat, Klikach, Kozare, Krumovo Gradishte, Krushovo, Madrino, Nevestino, Ognen, Raklitsa, San-Stefano, Sigmen, Sokolovo, Sarnevo, Smolnik, Tserkovski, Venets, Zheleznik, Zhitosvyat, Zimen

Malko Tarnovo Municipality
Bliznak, Brashlyan, Byala voda, Evrenozovo, Gramatikovo, Kalovo, Malko Tarnovo, Mladezhko, Slivarovo, Stoilovo, Vizitsa, Zabernovo, Zvezdets

Nesebar Municipality
Banya, Emona, Gyulyovtsa, Koznitsa, Kosharitsa, Nesebar, Obzor, Orizare, Panitsovo, Priseltsi, Rakovskovo, Ravda, Sunny beach, Sveti Vlas, Tankovo

Pomorie Municipality
Aheloy, Belodol, Aleksandrovo, Bata, Dabnik, Gaberovo, Goritsa, Galabets, Kableshkovo, Kamenar, Kozichino, Kosovets, Laka, Medovo, Pomorie, Poroy, Stratsin

Primorsko Municipality
Kiten, Novo Panicharevo, Pismenovo, Primorsko, Veselie, Yasna polyana,

Ruen Municipality
Bilka, Cheresha, Dobra polyana, Dobromir, Dropla, Daskotna, Dyulya, Kamenyak, Karavelyovo, Listets, Lyulyakovo, Pripek, Mrezhichko, Podgorets, Preobrazhentsi, Planinitsa, Prosenik, Rechitsa, Razboyna, Razhitsa, Rozhden, Rudina, Ruen, Rupcha, Shivarovo, Skalak, Snezha, Snyagovo, Sokolets, Sredna Mahala, Struya, Sini Rid, Topchiysko, Tranak, Vishna, Vresovo, Yabalchevo, Yasenovo, Zaimchevo, Zaychar, Zvezda

Sozopol Municipality
Atia, Chernomorets, Gabar, Indzhe voyvoda, Izvor, Krushevets, Prisad, Ravadinovo, Ravna gora, Rosen, Sozopol, Varshilo, Zidarovo

Sredets Municipality
Belevren, Belila, Bistrets, Bogdanovo, Debelt, Dolno Yabalkovo, Draka, Drachevo, Dyulevo, Fakiya, Golyamo Bukovo, Gorno Yabalkovo, Granitets, Granichar, Sredets, Kirovo, Kubadin, Momina Tsarkva, Malina, Orlintsi, Prohod, Panchevo, Radoynovo, Rosenovo, Svetlina, Sinyo Kamene, Slivovo, Suhodol, Trakiytsi, Varovnik, Zagortsi, Zornitsa,

Sungurlare Municipality
Balabanchevo, Beronovo, Bosilkovo, Chernitsa, Chubra, Dabovitsa, Gorovo, Esen, Grozden, Kamensko, Kamchiya, Klimash, Kosten, Lozarevo, Lozitsa, Manolich, Pchelin, Podvis, Prilep, Sadovo, Skala, Slavyantsi, Sungurlare, Terziysko, Valchin, Vedrovo, Velislav, Vezenkovo, Zavet

Tsarevo Municipality
Ahtopol, Arapya, Brodilovo, Balgari, Fazanovo, Izgrev, Kondolovo, Kosti, Lozenets, Rezovo, Sinemorets, Tsarevo, Varvara, Velika

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Burgas Province


text:
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a free and open-source multiplayer first-person shooter video game within the Wolfenstein series. It was originally planned to be released as a commercial expansion pack to Return to Castle Wolfenstein and later as a standalone game. However, due to problems with the single-player aspect, the multiplayer portion was released on 29 May 2003 as a freeware standalone game. In January 2004, the source code for the game logic (not the game engine) was released to the benefit of its modding community.

The game uses a modified Return to Castle Wolfenstein engine, itself being a heavily modified id Tech 3 engine, which has been open source since 2005. As of the first day of the August 2010 QuakeCon, the entire source code was released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. The media assets remain proprietary.

On April 26, 2022, the game was released on Steam, and on October 20, 2022 on gog.com.

A commercially released follow-up, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, was developed by Splash Damage.

Gameplay
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is an online multiplayer game, wherein the players interact with each other over a network, in two teams (Allies and Axis) to defend or destroy mission objectives. The game is playable over the Internet or a local area network. In public games, PunkBuster used to protect the game, however its developer, EvenBalance, discontinued support for the game in October 2011.

There are six officially released maps that are partially based on real locations or events (North African Campaign: Gold Rush, Siwa Oasis, and Atlantic Seawall Battery; Europe Campaign: Rail Gun, Würzburg Radar, and Fuel Dump), as well as hundreds of custom maps made by the gaming community. On most maps, the offense needs to complete a certain set of objectives within a limited amount of time. The defense needs to keep the offense from completing objectives until time runs out. Some objectives may be optional, and some objectives can be carried out by either team. These minor objectives assist the team completing them. Depending on game mode the action will continue on another map (Campaign Mode) or the same map (Objective Mode, Stopwatch Mode, Last Man Standing).

In all but the Last Man Standing Mode, dead players respawn all at the same time, every X seconds. In the default maps—assuming that the server settings are not changing it—Allies spawn every 20 seconds and the Axis every 30 seconds, the only exception being Rail Gun where both have a 20-second spawn. With default settings, one can see the spawn timer in the right side of the screen. Experienced players should watch the timer all the time—dying to a 1-second spawn practically means losing your position (and a life, if the server has the rarely used Limited Lives feature enabled) and resetting your health and ammo, while a 30-second spawn can be deadly if there are only a few players. A good tactic is to find out the spawn time of your enemy, for example looking at the mission timer, and time your attacks so that every dead opponent will have to wait a full-time spawn.

In the official six map campaign (most common on public servers), Allies are offense for all but one map, Railgun. In Stopwatch Mode (most common for locked or LAN servers) two teams—most common setups: 6vs6 or 3vs3—will play the same map twice, once on each side and the winner is the team with the fastest offense (it can be a tie when both teams defense manage to keep the offense from completing the objectives until time runs out (commonly known as a "full hold")).

Players may earn experience points in several skill categories. All character classes may earn points in Battle Sense and Light Weapons. Class skills are generally restricted to the current class, the exception being Heavy Weapons (the Soldier class skill).

Players have certain abilities based on their character class. The player has a Power Bar that provides "power" for their special abilities. The power bar regenerates slowly. Constructing the Command post speeds up the recharge rate though. Players have up to eight weapon slots, depending on character class. The classes that are available are engineer, soldier, field ops, medic, and covert ops.

Ranking and advancement
Players start off as a Private (Allies) or Schütze (Axis).

Through gameplay, experience can be gained for three categories: Battle Sense, Light Weapons, and a skill determined by the player's current chosen class. Certain class benefits remain with the player even if they change classes, and benefits from the two general skills are available to the player throughout, regardless of class change. Once a player has accrued enough experience points in a particular skill, the skill is automatically advanced to the next level, providing the player with a new ability or advantage. There are four attainable levels in each skill, awarded at 20, 50, 90 and 140 experience points; some mods add new levels.

Depending on the server's settings, a player's experience (XP) can be deleted at the end of a campaign, when the player disconnects, or after a set period of time. Experience can also be saved even upon disconnection. In competitions and select public servers, rankings are disabled, meaning that XP gives no advantage. The meaning of this is to make games faster; as defenders usually get a lot more XP, they would become stronger during the match, making the end game very difficult for the offensive team.

Community development
Based on the source code of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, ET: Legacy (ETL) is an open source project aiming to create a modernized client and server while still being as compatible as possible with the original game version, ET 2.60b, and its game mods. ET: Legacy's changes include an updated game engine, many bug and security fixes, a client auto updater, the Legacy game mod and overhauls for many classic maps.

title: Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory


text:
H. L. Gold

Horace Leonard Gold (April 26, 1914 – February 21, 1996) was an American science fiction writer and editor. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two. He was most noted for bringing an innovative and fresh approach to science fiction while he was the editor of Galaxy Science Fiction, and also wrote briefly for DC Comics.

Life and family
H. L. Gold was born on April 26, 1914 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Gold was born Jewish, and there are claims that he at first had to write under pseudonyms because publishers feared the readers' potential antisemitism. He was drafted into the United States Army during World War II, serving in the Pacific War. As a result of trauma during his wartime experiences, he developed agoraphobia which became so severe that for more than two decades he was unable to leave his apartment. Towards the end of his life, he acquired some control over the condition.

His marriage to Evelyn Stein ended in divorce in 1957, and his second marriage was to Muriel "Nicky" (Nicholson) Conley. He died in 1996.

His brother Floyd C. Gold, writing under the pen name Floyd C. Gale, was the primary book reviewer for Galaxy from 1955 to 1963. His son E. J. Gold is an artist, writer, and musician.

Science fiction
After becoming editor of Galaxy Gold wrote that as a "dazzled boy" he "discovered science fiction in 1927, at the age of 13":

"Amazing Stories had been out for a year then, but it was Wells' War of the Worlds, sitting innocently on a Providence library shelf, that I found first. The personal impact was that of an explosive harpoon, and when I belatedly discovered those beautifully garish Paul covers, decorated with heroically paralyzed men in jodhpurs and simperingly paralyzed women in blowy veils, among giant insects and plants with leering heads, I was hooked."

During the 1930s, Gold unsuccessfully wrote stories for pulp magazines. The day he was fired from his regular job because his boss believed that a writer should not work as a busboy, Gold learned that he had made his first sale. Beginning with "Inflexure" (as Clyde Crane Campbell) in Astounding Science Fiction (October 1934), Gold later worked for Standard Magazines, Fawcett Comics and Timely Comics. He used the Campbell pen-name for his first half-dozen or so stories in 1934/35. When he resumed his writing career in 1938 he took the billing Horace L. Gold, but soon shortened it to the now more familiar H. L. Gold.

Gold's most noted stories tended more toward fantasy, like his "Trouble with Water" (Unknown, March 1939). In 1939–41 he was an assistant editor on a trio of science fiction magazines – Captain Future, Thrilling Wonder Stories and Startling Stories. His 1939 novel, None But Lucifer in Unknown (September 1939) was a collaboration with L. Sprague de Camp.

Comics and World War II
During the early 1940s, Gold teamed with Kendell Foster Crossen on comic book scripts, freelancing with DC Comics writing for Batman, Superman, Superboy, Boy Commandos and Wonder Woman from "roughly the end of 1942" until World War II interrupted his career. He was drafted in 1944, although he was Canadian, flatfooted, overage and had a newborn child. He returned on compassionate leave (possibly in May 1946 ) to be at his dying father Henry's bedside in Fall River, Massachusetts. He had been offered directorship of Armed Forces Radio postwar, which he declined. After serving, he returned to New York City, where he scripted for comic books and radio programs. Gold's story "The Old Die Rich" (Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1953), written at the same time as Marcia Davenport's My Brother's Keeper, may have been inspired by the New York Times articles about the Collyer brothers as was Davenport's novel. Gold often found story ideas in newspaper clippings.

Galaxy and Beyond
H. L. Gold is perhaps best known as a leading magazine editor during the American post-World War II science fiction boom. In 1949 he began in that direction, and launched Galaxy Science Fiction in 1950, which was soon followed by its companion fantasy magazine, Beyond Fantasy Fiction (1953–55).

Gold's Galaxy "made a startling impact on the world of science fiction", successor Frederik Pohl said in 1965, with "wit and relevance"; "It is difficult to exaggerate that impact". Some writers saw Gold as "a sort of slave-driver" but, Pohl said, "as one of the most frequently flogged of the slaves ... the results were worth it". With Galaxy Gold created a different kind of science fiction magazine by focusing less on technology, hardware and pulp adventures. Instead, he introduced themes leaning toward sociology, psychology and satire. He paid more than was common at the time and had the advantage that several talented authors had become alienated from John W. Campbell due to his enthusiasm for Dianetics.

Gold also edited several anthologies (1952–62) related to the magazine. He suffered from increasing agoraphobia (originating from war trauma), and retired from Galaxy in 1961 due to his health problems. Gold lived the rest of his life in seclusion, though he published occasional short stories and guest editorials through the early 1980s.

Collected stories
His collection The Old Die Rich (Crown, 1955) includes "And Three to Get Ready", "At the Post", "The Biography Project" (as Dudley Dell), "Don't Take It to Heart", "Hero", "Love in the Dark" (also known as "Love Ethereal"), "Man of Parts", "The Man with English", "No Charge for Alterations", "The Old Die Rich", "Problem in Murder" and "Trouble with Water". While Anthony Boucher praised Gold as "almost the only s.f. writer capable of creating lower and lower-middle class background," he found that the stories "are simply not up to the standards of craftsmanship" that Gold set as an editor.

Awards

 * 1953 – Hugo for Best Prozine Editor
 * 1975 – Westercon Life Achievement Award
 * 1987 – Milford Award

Short stories

 * "Inflexure", Astounding Science Fiction (October 1934)
 * "Trouble with Water", Unknown (March 1939)
 * "The Old Die Rich", Galaxy Science Fiction (March 1953)
 * "Someone to Watch Over Me" (with Floyd Gold), Galaxy Science Fiction (October 1959)
 * "Inside Man", Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1965
 * "The Transmogrification of Wamba's Revenge", Galaxy, October 1967
 * "The Riches of Embarrassment", Galaxy, April 1968
 * "The Villains from Vega IV" (with E. J. Gold), Galaxy, October 1968
 * "And Three to Get Ready"
 * "At the Post"
 * "Don't Take It to Heart"
 * "Hero"
 * "Love in the Dark"
 * "Man of Parts"
 * "The Man with English"
 * "No Charge for Alterations"
 * "Problem in Murder"
 * "Trouble with Water"

Novels

 * A Matter of Form (1938)
 * None But Lucifer (with L. Sprague de Camp) (1939)

Collections

 * The Old Die Rich (1955)

Audio files

 * X Minus One: adaptation of H. L. Gold's "The Old Die Rich"

title: H. L. Gold


text:
Herbert Hupka

Herbert Hupka (August 15, 1915 – August 24, 2006) was a German journalist, politician (SPD and later the CDU), and advocate for the Germans expelled from neighbouring countries after the Second World War.

Early life
Hupka was born in a British internment camp in Diyatalawa, Sri Lanka, to a Silesian German Catholic professor Erich Hupka and a Jewish-German Lutheran mother Sara Rosenthal. Herbert Hupka grew up in Ratibor, Upper Silesia (Free State of Prussia, Germany). In his younger years Hupka was raised in the Catholic religion and close to the democratic Catholic Zentrum party. After having served in the Wehrmacht at the Eastern Front, and after having completed his Habilitation, Hupka was expelled from the Wehrmacht in August 1944 for being a "half-Jew" because his mother was Jewish; she survived deportation to and internment in Theresienstadt concentration camp. Following World War II their Upper Silesian hometown became part of the People's Republic of Poland and Hupka and his mother were expelled to West Germany.

Politics and Expellee Issues
Hupka was a member of the Bundestag from 1969 to 1987. He was also president of the Eastern German Culture Council (Ostdeutscher Kulturrat) and vice-president of the Federation of Expellees (Bund der Vertriebenen).

The expellees' issues formed the kernel of his political activities. He was the chairman of the Landsmannschaft Schlesien from 1968 to 2000. He was also chairman of the Eastern German Culture Council and vice-chairman of the Federation of Expellees from historical eastern Germany. Hupka had opposed the Ostpolitik initiated by Willy Brandt and carried on by further SPD and even (later) CDU-led administrations. These policies subscribed to the acceptance of the territorial changes that took place after the Second World War; this line explicitly denied all attempts to regain these territories and former provinces, which had become parts of Poland or the Russian SFSR. Herbert Hupka, on the other hand, spoke in favour of incorporating the territories into a unified, future German state. His opinions, which were regarded as revanchist, made him unpopular not only with the left, as he opposed the recognition of the Oder-Neiße border with the People's Republic of Poland. On 29 February 1972, Hupka crossed the floor from the Bundestag faction of the SPD to the CDU/CSU faction. Nevertheless, in 1985 CDU-leader and federal chancellor Helmut Kohl also refused to speak at the Landsmannschaft Schlesien's annual conference unless its theme, "Schlesien bleibt unser" ("Silesia remains ours [i.e. German]") was changed to a less controversial theme. Hupka was one of the Landsmannschaft's members who refused to change the theme, thereby conflicting heavily with Kohl, leader of the CDU. In the end he agreed to change the name to "Silesia remains our future in a common Europe of free nations".

Hupka, once the target of Polish and Soviet communist (and nationalist) propaganda, was later employed as an advisor by the local government of present-day Silesia and was awarded the title of an honorary citizen of Racibórz, the historic town of his youth. Later in life, Hupka partially gave up his former views on totally restoring the pre-1945 borders of Germany and became a conditional supporter of the German-Polish rapprochement.

Death
Hupka died on 24 August 2006 at his home in Bonn, after an accident. The causes of the accident have not been fully investigated.

title: Herbert Hupka


text:
Wisden Group

The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the magazine The Wisden Cricketer, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised ball-tracking system, which is used by the media in cricket, tennis and other sports. The group also owned The Oldie, a general interest British magazine aimed at older readers.

Sir John Paul Getty was chairman of John Wisden & Co from 1993 until his death in 2003, when he was succeeded as majority shareholder by his son Mark.

The group was broken up in 2007 when The Wisden Cricketer was sold to British Sky Broadcasting, The Oldie was sold to a group of investors led by the magazine's former business manager, James Pembroke, and Cricinfo was sold to ESPN. John Wisden & Co was sold to A & C Black in 2008. Hawk-Eye remained under the control of Mark Getty, but was eventually sold to Sony Corporation in 2011.

title: Wisden Group