Scientists included into Azerbaijan “…lands inhabited by the Azerbaijani Turks, the people, which inhabited the region ranging from the northern slopes of the Caucasian mountains along the Caspian Sea to the Iranian plateau” (Tadeusz Swietochovski “Russia and Azerbaijan: A borderland in transition” (New York: Colombia University Press 1995). Azerbaijan is one of the regions of ancient human settlements; its territory was inhabited during the Palaeolithic period. In 7-6 millennia B.C. the agricultural and cattle-breeding settlements were spread here. Scientists dated the rock drawings in Gobustan near Baku as belonging to the end of the 7th or the beginning of the 6th millennium before the B.C. The famous Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who specially travelled to Baku in 1979 and 1994 to study these drawings, believed that the Caspian Sea shores were, in fact, the cradle of civilization that later spread southwards and northwards via waterways. T.Heyerdahl found the confirmation of his hypothesis not only in the pictures of the Gobustan repeatedly drawn thousand years later by the Vikings on the rocks in Norway, but also in sagas that were written as late as the Middle Ages. The rock drawings, depicting ships with the Sun over them, which were discovered in Gobustan, also confirm the connection between the early settlements in Azerbaijan and the Shumer-Akkadian civilization of Mesopotamia, which has bequeathed the similar cultural monuments to history.
In the 3rd and the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C. the prerequisites for the early class societies, early urban civilisation and early state formations were created. Tribal unions of Aratta, Kuti and Lullubi appeared here. The first state to be formed on the territory of historical Azerbaijan, according to Shumer cuneiform sources, was the State of Aratta, which sprung up to the south and southeast of the Lake Urmia in the first half of the third millennium B.C. In the 23rd century B.C. the second ancient State to arise on the territory of Azerbaijan - the State of Lullubum - came into being to the south of the Lake Urmia. In the second half of the 3rd millennium B.C. the State of Kutium was established to the west and southwest of the Lake Urmia. In the year 2175 B.C. the forces of Kutium conquered Shumer and Akkad, where they ruled for 100 years.
The most ancient Azerbaijani States maintained political, economic and cultural ties with Shumer and Akkad, were part of the overall region of the Mesopotamian civilization and were ruled by the dynasties of Turkic origin. The Turkic-speaking peoples that inhabited the territory of Azerbaijan from the ancient times were fire-worshippers and professed one of the world's oldest religions - Zoroastrianism. The name of the state originates from the present-day form of the Turkic word combination meaning “land, noblemen who keep the fire”.
Since the second half of the 9th until the 8th century B.C. the State of Manna existed in the region near the Lake Urmia. The Cimmerian-Scythian-Saka kingdom existed in 7-6th centuries B.C. in the western part of South Azerbaijan.
In the 70s of the 7th century B.C. a Midian kingdom appears on the territory of Azerbaijan, which was replaced by the Persian State of Akhaemenids in the middle of the 6th century B.C.
The State of Atropatene, which was formed in the southern part of the territory around the year 320 B.C. and was considerably influenced by Hellenism, played an important role in the history of Azerbaijan.
In the third century B.C. the State of Caucasian Albania was formed in the north of Azerbaijan with its southern borders extending along the river Araks. The people of Albania (one of the ancestor nations of contemporary Azerbaijanis) consisted of various ethnic groups, the overwhelming majority of whom spoke Turkic languages. Albania was converted to Christianity in the year 313 B.C. Albania comprised also the mountainous part of Karabakh, then called “Artsakh”. It should be mentioned that, the word "Karabakh" is an original Azeri word and means "black mountains". The word "Artsakh", which is used by Armenians to call Karabakh, originates from Albanian words "Ar Sak" and means "manly Sak" (Albanians - the ancestors of contemporary Azeris - named these lands in commemoration of Saks, who lived here side by side with them).
In the 1st-4th centuries when the whole Caucasus was subjected to Rome, Albania remained the only independent state, the political independence of which provided for the flourishing of the Albanian writings, language and literature. During that period the influence of the office of auto cephalic Albanian Catholicos, Albanian Church, which was independent of other Christian churches and even spread Christianity among North Caucasian and Turkic peoples, was very high.
In connection with the Arab invasion from the beginning of the 8th century Islam becomes the dominant religion in Azerbaijan. As part of this process most of the Albanians were converted to Islam, although some retained their own religion. Taking into account the influence of the Byzantine Empire on South Caucasus on the eve of the Arab invasion, the Albanian Church, as well as the Georgian one, shared the dogmas of duophizicism. In order to prevent the influence of the Byzantine Empire the Caliphate, with the help of the Armenian Church changes the Albanian Church into monophizite one and subordinates it to the Armenian Gregorian Church. This resulted in that the Albanians living in the mountainous part of Karabakh – Artsakh – were gradually Gregorianized.
The fact that the population of Albania and Atropatene lived within a unitary state and professed common religion helped to consolidate the people of Azerbaijan. The Khurramite movement in Azerbaijan, headed by Babak, at the beginning of the 9th century, incorporated the ideas of freedom, independence and universal equality.
As a result of anti-Caliphate struggle of the local population in the 9th century several new states appeared in Azerbaijan, the strongest of them being the Shirvan state with the capital city of Shamakhi, where the Shirvanshah dynasty ruled. That state existed until the 16th century and played a big role in the history of a medieval Azerbaijan. In the 9th to the 11th centuries independent States of the Sajids, Salarids, Ravvadids (with the capital city of Tabriz) and the state of Sheddadids (with the capital city of Ganja) appeared on the territory of Azerbaijan.
At the end of the 11th century the dynasty of Seljukids ruled in Azerbaijan.
In 1136-1225 the Atabay Eldeghizid State existed in Azerbaijan.
Common Turkic language, ethnic Turkic origin, Islamic religion of the native population led finally to consolidation of the Azerbaijani people, which finished, mainly, in the 11th-12th centuries. At that period the culture of Azerbaijan flourished when Azerbaijani philosophers, architects, poets and scientists became known to the world. The works of the poet and philosopher Nizami Ganjavi who contributed into the golden treasury of the world culture became the peak of the public and cultural thought in the Azerbaijan of that period.
During the 12th and 13th centuries the Khachen Principality came to the force in the mountainous part of Karabakh under the rule of Albanian kings. The rule of Hassan Jalal (1215-1261) ushered in the Albanian revival and saw the completion of the construction of the Gandzasar monastery complex, which became the foremost cathedral of the country. This monastery was sanctified by the catholicos of Albania.
Since the mid-13th century the Azerbaijani states became vassals of the Mongol State of Khulaguids (1258-1356). In the middle of the 14th century a local feudal lord Jalayir, who founded the state of Jalairids, supported by Azerbaijani nobility came to power as a result of the struggle of the local population against foreign oppression.
Since the end of the 14th century Azerbaijan became the object and arena of Timur the Great’s struggle with the Golden Horde.
In 1410-1468 the Turkic dynasties of Garagoyunlu and in 1468-1501 Aghgoyunlu ruled in Azerbaijan, when it reached a considerable influence. In 1501 the state of Safavids (named after the ruling dynasty) with the capital in Tabriz appeared, which in the beginning of the 16th century for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan united all Azerbaijani territories into one Azerbaijani state of Safavids. The territory of the Safavid state extended from the Amu–Darya to the Euphrates and from Derbent to the Persian Gulf. It was formed and developed as an Azerbaijani state, the political power being in the hands of the Azerbaijani nobility. High-ranking court dignitaries, militaries, regional rulers were designated from among it. The army consisted of units of the biggest Azerbaijani tribes. The state language of the Safavid state was Azerbaijani. To the end of the 16th century the capital of the Safavid state was transferred to Isfahan. The Shah relied on the Persian nobility and the state governed by the Azerbaijani dynasty acquired Persian features.
In the 40s of the 18th century as a result of weakening of the Shah power 20 independent khanates appear on the territory of Azerbaijan, such as Ardebil, Baky, Ganja, Derbent, Kavad, Karabakh, Garadag, Irevan, Guba, Maku, Maraga, Nakhchivan, Salyan, Urmia, Khoy, Tabriz, Talysh, Sarab, Shirvan, Sheki khanates. Besides khanates, there existed Gazakh-Shamsadil, Borchali, Ilisu, Arash, Gutgashen, Gabala sultanates. Moslem Azerbaijani- and Christian Albanian-populated Upper Karabakh was a part of the Azerbaijani Karabakh khanate, which, on the whole, consisted of territories between the Kura and the Araks rivers. This khanate included as vassals Dizag, Varanda, Khachin, Jilabort and Gulistan melikates, covering the mountainous part of Karabakh.
Occupying a beneficial strategic and geopolitical position, Azerbaijan becomes the arena of struggle for domination between Iran, Russian and Ottoman empires at the end of the 18th – the first third of the 19th centuries. Some khanates defended their statehood with arms in their hands. Others were forced to conclude vassal agreements in order to protect their interests.
Thus, on May 14, 1805 at the river Kurak a tractate was signed with the Azerbaijani Khan Ibrahim on submission of the Karabakh khanate under the Russian rule, which is an important document testifying to that Karabakh historically belonged to Azerbaijan.
The first Russian-Iranian war (1804-1813) for the establishment of the domination over the Azerbaijani khanates resulted in the first division of the Azerbaijani territories between Russia and Iran. The Gulistan peace treaty signed on October 12, 1813, between Russia and Iran de jure recognized joining to Russia of the North Azerbaijan khanates, excluding Nakhichevan and Irevan khanates. As a result of the second Russian-Iranian war (1826-1828) the Turkmenchai peace treaty was signed on February 10, 1828, according to which Iran confirmed its refusal to claim North Azerbaijan and finally recognized, including Nakhichevan and Irevan khanates, its joining to Russia.
It is important to note that all above-mentioned khanates, including Karabakh, were joined to Russia as purely Azerbaijani property. They were Azerbaijani lands from the point of view of the Azerbaijani population dominating on these territories and national identity of the feudal elites (khans, owners of large arable lands, clergy, etc.
According to Turkmenchai treaty and the peace treaty concluded in Edirne in 1829, Armenians living at that time in Iran and Ottoman Empire were resettled to Azerbaijan, mainly to Nakhchivan, Irevan and Karabakh khanates.
Thus, the Russian scientist K.Shavrov admitted that only from 1828 to 1830 40 thousand Armenians from Persia and 84 thousand Armenians from Turkey were resettled to Transcaucasus, who were “placed on the best lands of Yelisavetpol (Karabakh) and Erivan provinces, where the Armenian population was insignificant and they were given 200 thousand dessiatinas (measure of land) of government lands”.
As the famous Russian diplomat and poet A.S.Griboyedov wrote, “Armenians were mostly settled on the territories of Moslem landowners ... The settlers... press Moslems… We also discussed a lot about suggestions to be made Moslems in order to convince them to reconcile with their present difficulties, which will not last for a long time, and to eradicate their fears on that the Armenians will get into possession of the lands they were let in for the first time (temporarily)”.
The American scientist Justine McCarthy gives the following information on the settlement of South Caucasus, namely, Azerbaijan, by the Armenians. During 1828-1920 in the process of implementation of the policy aimed at the transformation of demographic structure of Azerbaijan in favour of Armenians at the expense of Azerbaijanis, “more than 2 million Moslems were forcefully ousted, their unestablished number was killed… Two times, in 1828 and 1854 the Russians invaded Eastern Anatolia… and twice were forced to leave, taking 100 thousand Armenians to the Caucasus, where the latter were settled instead of the Turks (Azerbaijanis) who emigrated or died.
What was the reason of such active Armenian migration? And the reason was, that Armenians in Turkey and Iran were subjected to repression, because during the latest wars with Russian Empire Armenian population made a great contribution to the success and victories of Russians by organizing revolts and uprisings in the interior of Turks and Persians. Therefore Russia included into Turkmenchay Peace Treaty of 1828 paragraph #15, which demanded to leave borders between Iran and Russia open to let Armenians enter Russian territory. And in order to strengthen its influence in the region, Russia settled them in Karabakh setting balance between its friends and enemies. Since that time Armenians started their continuous penetration into these lands; these streams intensified especially during aggravation of relations of Russia with Iran and Turkey.
During the war of 1877-1878 Russia seized Kars-Ardagan region, ousting Moslems and settling 70 thousand Armenians there... Approximately 60 thousand Armenians resettled to the Russian Caucasus during the events of 1895-1896… The migration that occurred during World War I resulted in an almost equal exchange of 400 thousand Armenians from Eastern Anatolia to 400 thousand Moslems from the Caucasus”.
According to the American scientist, from 1828 to 1920 560 thousand Armenians were resettled to Azerbaijan. Thus, it was after Russia conquered South Caucasus that the Armenian population on the territory of Azerbaijan to the North of the River Araks began to increase sharply.
As for Karabakh, according to official data of 1810, i.e. shortly before joining to Russia, there were up to 12 thousand families in the Karabakh khanate, including 9500 Azerbaijani and only 2500 Armenian ones. According to the data of 1823, there was one town in the Karabakh khanate, namely Shusha, and about 600 villages (including 450 Azerbaijani and about 150 Armenian villages), where there were about 90 thousand inhabitants. In Shusha there were approximately 1048 Azerbaijani and 474 Armenian families, and in the villages 12902 and 4331 families, respectively.
Armenians, living in Karabakh, are actually descendants of the Armenianized local Albanian population. The Armenian historian B.Ishkhanian wrote: “The Armenians, living in Nagorno-Karabakh, are partly aborigines, the descendants of ancient Albanians…, and partly refugees from Turkey and Iran, for whom the Azerbaijani land became a refuge against persecutions”.
In accordance with the decree of the Russian emperor Nikolai I of March 21, 1828, the Azerbaijani khanates of Nakhichevan and Irevan were abolished and instead of them a new administrative unit called “Armenian Region” was created, governed by the Russian officials. In 1849 the mentioned region was re-named to Erivan province.
Pursuing their far-reaching goals, in 1836 the Armenians achieved the liquidation by the Russian authorities of the Albanian Christian patriarchate that functioned in Azerbaijan and the transfer of its property to the Armenian Church. When the western provinces of the former Albania, i.e. the Karabakh region where the Armenian elements penetrated, were losing their state and religious independence, some time later the Gregorianization (Armenianization) of the local Albanian population began.
The ideological justification for the territorial claims of the Armenians in the Southern Caucasus were linked to the formation of the nationalist parties "Armenakan" in 1885 in France, "Gnchak" (Bell) in 1887 in Geneva, and "Dashnakzutyun" (Union) in 1890 in Tiflis. These parties set themselves the task of using armed uprisings and terrorist actions to unite the territories on which Armenians who had been resettled from Iran and the Ottoman Empire were living.
The "Gnchak" programme contains, in particular, the following call: "To kill Turks and Kurds under any conditions, never to spare Armenians who have betrayed their cause, and to take revenge upon them".
"Dashnakzutyun" was an authentic Nazi-style party, which anticipated by 30 years the ideology of the National Socialist Party of Germany and whose programme contained the words: "The objective of the Dashnakzutyun Party is to form an anarchist, democratic republic. The means of achieving this objective are the following: 1) armed insurrection; 2) intensive work to develop a revolutionary mentality among not only the Armenians; 3) the arming and organization of the Armenians; 4) terror and the destruction of government persons and institutions. To achieve this objective, everything is permitted: propaganda, terror, merciless guerrilla warfare."
Recounting the consequences of the activities of the Dashnakzutyun, the Georgian writer, Karibi, wrote with bitterness in 1919: "The Dashnaks arrived, bringing with them national hatred. And on such a soil, need it be said, nothing but Armenian-Muslim carnage and war between Armenia and Georgia was able to grow."
It was organizations of this kind, together with the authorities of the Russian Empire, who were intent on curbing the revolutionary and nationalist liberation movement in the Caucasus, that provoked the first confrontations between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in 1905. Between 1907 and 1912 approximately half a million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire and Iran moved to the Kars, Erivan and Elizavetpol regions, where a vast majority of the population was made up of Azerbaijanis. This movement of population took place with the connivance of the Russian administration, whose aim was to push the situation in the area of inter-ethnic relations to the limit and so strengthen Russia's dominion over the region.
Prematurely defining its oil riches in the second half of XIX the century, Azerbaijan in the first decades of XX the century was between the greatest world-wide crude oil producers.
In the first years of the XIX true international competition took place in Azerbaijan. The discovery of huge oil resources transforms Azerbaijan in a new energy Eldorado, attracting thousands of foreigners and making of Baku one of the more living cities of the West under the economic, social, politician, cultural profile. Here many young democrats made an extremely diversified experience who in some years fight for independence of Azerbaijan. Many businessmen, manufacturers and financiers from whole of Europe also made great and rich experience here. Between them were two Nobel brothers: thanks to the accumulated riches with the Azerbaijani oil Alfred Nobel could in fact launch the famous Prize that carries his name.
After the revolutionary developments of 1917 centrifugal tendencies in Russia intensified, and the prerequisites for the formation of independent states on the territory of the national outlying districts of the former Russian empire were created. On May 28, 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was proclaimed on the territory of the eastern part of South Caucasus. It was the first parliamentary democracy in the Moslem Orient, which played a historic part in the revival and further development of national consciousness and statehood of the Azerbaijani people.
The official doctrine of the national and state development of the ADR became the notion of “Azerbaijanism”, main elements of which became the principles of modernism, Islamism and Turkism, symbolizing the strive of the Azerbaijani people for the progress on the basis of preservation of belonging to Moslem civilization and Turkic cultural and ethnic originality.
During short 2 years the multiparty Azerbaijani parliament and the coalition governments managed to take a number of measures in national and state building, education, creation of army, independent financial and economic systems, international recognition of the ADR as the subject of world community of nations. On January 11, 1920, the Supreme Council of the Paris (Versailles) conference recognized de facto independence of the ADR. By that time in the capital of the ADR – the city of Baku – there were already representatives of 20 countries of the world.
However, in 1919-1920 the internal and foreign political situation of the ADR considerably complicated. The country found itself at the crossing of the bitter struggle between the members of the Entente, Turkey, Russia and Iran. Each of them pursued its own geopolitical goals in this strategically important region, which was rich in oil. The policy of non-recognition of the ADR carried out by the government of the Bolshevist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), a reach of the 11th Red Army of the ADR boundaries in spring of 1920, the aggression of the Dashnak Armenia against the ADR in Karabakh and Zangezur, terrorist actions of the Armenian and Bolshevik parties against the peaceful Azerbaijani population, socio-economic crisis in the country – all these factors resulted in weakening of the ADR and the occupation of its capital city by the 11th Red Army on April 27-28, 1920 – in accordance with the telegram of the Headquarters of the Caucasian Front to the Command of the 11th Red Army of May 1, 1920, the troops of the RSFSR were ordered to further “seize the whole territory of Azerbaijan within the boundaries of the former Russian empire without crossing the border of Persia”.
The migration of Armenians to the Southern Caucasus in the first half of the nineteenth century and their settlement mainly in Azerbaijan was accompanied by the separation of territory from Azerbaijan and its incorporation in the "Armenian Oblast" that had ' been created within the Russian Empire. The expansion of the territory of Armenia continued into the present century. As recently as 29 May 1918, the Government of the Azerbaijan Republic ceded part of the Erivan district (the former Iravan Khanate) to the Republic of Armenia. This also, however, proved to be too little for the Armenian Government, and between 1918 and 1920 part of Garabagh, Zangazur and the Lake Geija (now Sevan) district – a total area of 9,000 square kilometres – was seized by force of arms.
After the formation of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, its leaders at the time did not demand the return of the Azerbaijani territories. On the contrary, there then ensued the next "peaceful" stage of land seizure, realized with assistance from the Communist leadership of Russia and the Soviet Union. In 1921, Armenia's "acquisition" of the Zangazur district and a significant part of the Gazakh district, totalling approximately 9,000 square kilometres and populated to a large extent by Azerbaijanis, was legalized." As a result of the transfer of Zangazur to Armenia, the Nakhchivan area was cut off from Azerbaijan.
In 1922 the Bolsheviks dealt in similar fashion with the Azerbaijani lands of Dilijan and Geija. In 1929 a number of villages were taken from Nakhchivan and annexed to the Armenian SSR. In 1969 the Armenian SSR again expanded its territory at the expense of Azerbaijan by taking land as far east as the Gadabay district. Under pressure from the central authorities, Azerbaijan "transferred" a number of villages in the Gazakh district to Armenia.
70 years of membership in the USSR became a new and important stage in the Azerbaijani statehood, during which the Azerbaijan SSR achieved a considerable success in social, economic and cultural development. At the same time during the Soviet period of development, like in the whole USSR, there were also many negative tendencies in Azerbaijan.
Economically the country became an appendix of fuel and raw materials, as well as agricultural products of the Soviet economy. In the cultural sphere, as a result of the change of alphabet – from Latin to Cyrillic – the links to the written sources of spiritual culture of the Azerbaijani people were lost. The Soviet regime did everything to suppress any strive of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia to show national originality, to study the true history of its country.
During the Soviet times the territories of Zangezur, Goycha, a part of Nakhchivan and other regions were taken from Azerbaijan in favor of the neighboring Armenia. As a result the territory of Azerbaijan that during the times of the ADR in 1920 constituted 114 thousand sq. km, reduced to 86.6 thousand sq. km during 1920-1991. Besides, on July 7, 1923, at the initiative of the Moscow leadership of the Bolshevik party, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO) with dominating Armenian population was artificially taken out of the part of historic Karabakh, the majority of its population being Azerbaijanis. This decision became the first step on the way of goal-oriented policy of separation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan. Despite this fact the NKAO remained within the confines of Azerbaijan SSR and its administration depended on Baku.
In 1988-1990 national democratic movement of Azerbaijan led an active struggle for the restoration of country’s independence. With the aim of suppressing this movement the units of the Soviet Army were brought to Baku on January 20, 1990 with the permission of the USSR leadership headed by M.Gorbachev. As a result of punitive measures carried out with unseen brutality hundreds of citizens of Azerbaijan were killed and wounded. A state of emergency was introduced in the country, which lasted until mid-1991. Despite this as a result of the continued struggle of the patriotic forces of the Azerbaijani people for independence the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR adopted Constitutional Act “On the restoration of the state independence of the Azerbaijan Republic” on August 30, 1991.
This act laid basics of the state, political and economic structure of independent Azerbaijan. Since that moment the Azerbaijan Republic, after the 71-year interval, again became an independent subject of international law.
November 1991 marked the beginning of international recognition of Azerbaijan’s independence. In 1992, the country became a member of the United Nations and Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), now known as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
This was also a period when the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan became a major international dispute. The collapse of the Soviet Union had created chaos and uncertainty in the region, and Armenian extremists took advantage of these circumstances. In 1992, Armenia launched a campaign of open aggression against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces conducted brutal ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide against Azerbaijani civilians. During only one night, more than 750 Azerbaijani civilians were massacred by Armenian forces in the town of Khojali of Azerbaijan and Armenia gained a major stronghold in the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Today, the per capita ratio of the displaced population within the Republic of Azerbaijan is one of the highest in the world. The displaced communities in Azerbaijan include refugees brutally expelled from Armenia in 1988-89, Internally Displaced Persons from the regions occupied by the Armenian forces, and the Meskheti Turkish refugees.
Following these difficulties, the leader of the Popular Front political movement, Abulfaz Elchibey, was elected Azerbaijan’s first new, post-Soviet president. However, the worsening military situation in Nagorno Karabakh and the declining domestic economy led to Elchibey’s departure from office. In October 1993, Heydar Aliyev, the Speaker of the Parliament, was elected President.
Newly elected President Aliyev faced many challenges, including numerous, uncontrolled armed mobs, which had emerged in Azerbaijan at the time the Soviet Union was dissolved. Renegade groups attempted to overthrow President Aliyev’s government, but each time they failed, and the armed opposition groups lost support among the population and became weaker.
The results of presidential elections in October of 1998 and both parliamentary elections held in November of 1995 and November of 2000, respectively, affirmed public approval of President Aliyev’s policies. His New Azerbaijan Party received the majority of seats in both parliamentary elections, a sign of considerable popular support for the President’s efforts to establish democratic institutions.
President Aliyev is credited with creating a stable political environment, instituting positive economic reforms, and preventing further bloodshed in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. He has overcome major obstacles, both internal and external, to bring peace, stability, economic and democratic reforms to Azerbaijan. As a result of his leadership, the country is on the verge of becoming an influential political and economic leader in the region, a dynamic free market. In January 2001, the Republic of Azerbaijan became a member of the Council of Europe.
With the direction of the President Heydar Aliyev the Azerbaijan has passed the greater part of 90th to stipulate the numerous agreements with the foreign companies for the exploration and production of hydrocarbon fields of the country.
In the end of 90th Azerbaijan has completed two oil pipelines each of with 100.000 barrels of transport capacity a day: the first one leaving from Baku, through the Georgia catches to Supsa (on the coast of Black Sea) and the second leaving from Baku, through Russia catches to Novorossiysk (on the coast of Black Sea). Moreover on September 18, 2002 has been begun construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Main Export Pipeline Project (length 1700 km) which will transport crude oil from Baku till Ceyhan, the Turkish terminal on the coast of Mediterranean Sea. This pipeline will be completed in 2005, will have a transport capacity of 1 million barrel crude oil per day.
On October 16, 2003 was held new presidential elections in the country in which Ilham Aliyev, the successor of the political line of the President Heydar Aliyev won the elections with a wide margin of ballots.
