BAKU: Azerbaijan’s ruling party formally nominated President Ilham Aliyev for re-election in 2024, a move that is poised to extend the decades-long rule of the Aliyev family. The 61-year-old incumbent has governed the energy-rich nation since 2003, succeeding his father Heydar, a former KGB officer and Communist-era leader.
The snap leadership contest, called by Aliyev for February 7 next year, comes ahead of the previously scheduled presidential elections in 2025. Aliyev’s popularity has surged following Azerbaijan’s military success in recapturing the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian separatists in a swift offensive conducted in September.
Ilham Aliyev’s Popularity in Azerbaijan
During the governing council meeting of Aliyev’s Yeni Azerbaijan party on Friday, he was officially nominated for re-election. The deputy chairman of the party, Ali Akhmedov, stated, “This is a decision not only of our party but of the entire people,” emphasizing that over the two decades of Aliyev’s rule, he has fulfilled the wishes of the Azerbaijani people.
A state-run polling group reported that 75 percent of the population approved of Aliyev’s handling of the Karabakh conflict. The military intervention in September ended decades of conflict and establishing Azerbaijani control over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The victory marked the conclusion of a territorial dispute that had triggered two wars between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020 and the 1990s, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties on both sides.
