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Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev) (born December 24, 1961) is the president of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party (since 2003). During his father Heydar Aliyev's presidency, Ilham Aliyev was vice-president of the State Oil Company (SOCAR), president of the National Olympic Committee (still incumbent) and head of the Azerbaijan delegation to the Council of Europe. In August several months prior to presidential elections, the ailing president Heydar Aliyev appointed him prime minister, a move highly criticized by the domestic opposition. Presidential elections were held on October 15, 2003 and Ilham Aliyev won, reportedly with 77.97% of the votes. However, domestic opposition refused to accept the election results and staged mass protests. Hundreds of demonstrators were beaten, and later arrested. Ilham Aliyev took office on October 31, despite opposition complaints that the vote was rigged in his favor. The elections received harsh criticism from the international community too. Many international observers noted that elections fell short of international standards and were accompanied by voter intimidation, unequal campaign opportunities for the candidates, widespread violations of the electoral laws and process. The International Election Observation Mission of OSCE noted a number of irregularities in the counting and tabulation. During Aliyev's presidency Azerbaijan's situation with human rights has not improved. No mass meeting of the opposition has been allowed since his election. The situation with freedom of speech also aggravated as the goverment exerted pressures on opposition and independent press. As a result, Azerbaijan, previously listed in Freedom House ratings as partly free, was re-ranked among not free countries. The recent murder of Elmar Huseynov, the editor-in-chief of Monitor journal, one of the most popular independent journals, widely known for its harsh criticism of Azerbaijanian authorities, added even more criticism and pressure on the government and on Ilham Aliyev from the domestic opposition and international community. In March 2005 under continued pressure from the international community, especially the Council of Europe, Ilham Aliyev released from prison many prominent members of the opposition arrested following the October 2003 protests. On March 26, 2005 Ilham Aliyev was officially elected as the ruling New Azerbaijan Party chairman. The opposition proclaimed this as a violation of state laws, because according to the law on political parties, the president should have no party affiliation. External links BBC Country Profile: Azerbaijan with succint information on Ilham Aliyev Aliyev, Heydar Aliyev, Heydar Aliyev, Ilham
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