Abulfaz Gadirgulu oglu Elchibey (Aliyev) is an Azerbaijani state, political and public figure. Dissident and leader of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan - the Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement. He was the second President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (from 1992 to 1993), but the first elected by the Azerbaijani people through democratic elections.
Biography of Abulfaz Elchibey
Abulfaz Gadirgulu oglu was born on June 24, 1938 in the village of Kalyaki, Ordubad region of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. Graduated from high school number 1 in Ordubad.
In 1957 he entered the Azerbaijan State University at the Department of Arabic Philology. After graduating in 1962, Abulfaz Elchibey got a job as a translator at the Baku branch of the USSR Institute of Hydrodynamics. In January 1963, he was sent on a business trip to Egypt, where he stayed until October 1964. Upon his return, he enteredpostgraduate study at the Azerbaijan State University, which he successfully graduated in 1968, receiving the degree of candidate of historical sciences.
Abulfaz Elchibey was a teacher at the Department of History of Asian and African Countries at Azerbaijan State University from 1968 to 1975.
Scientific activity
Abulfaz Aliyev, who knows the intricacies of the literary and modern Arabic language, the foundations of Islam, science, history, philosophy and culture of Eastern countries, conducted very valuable scientific research in the field of historiography and oriental studies. During his lifetime, he published more than 40 scientific papers, including:
- "Appearance of Ahmed ibn Tulun and the state of the Tulunids";
- "Degradation and division of the Abbasite Caliphate";
- "Ahmed Tantarani Maragi and his Tantarania" and so on.
Also, Abulfaz Gadirgulu oglu wrote several books, which are collections of new ideas: "The State of Tolunogullary (868-905)" and "On the Way to United Azerbaijan".
Political activity of the second president of Azerbaijan
Abulfaz Elchibey fought against the politics of the Soviet regime since his student years: he created secret student associations and tried to widely disseminate the ideas of freedom. At the same time, he promoted the idea of a united Azerbaijan.
In January 1975, the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan arrested him on charges of nationalist and anti-Sovietpropaganda and imprisoned for a term until July 17, 1976. But the arrest did not change his path.
In 1988, Abulfaz Elchibey creates the People's Movement and becomes one of its leaders. Thanks to the confident struggle of the People's Movement, on October 18, 1991, the law on the independence of Azerbaijan was adopted.
On June 8, 1992 in Azerbaijan, for the first time in its history, a president was democratically elected. Abulfaz Gadirgulu oglu did a lot to establish democracy in the country, to turn Azerbaijan into a sovereign state and to improve the well-being of the entire Azerbaijani people.
Results of the reign of Abulfaz Elchibey
- The foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank increased by more than 100 times and reached 156 million US dollars.
- The state budget deficit did not exceed 5 percent.
- Azerbaijan's national currency, the manat, was put into circulation, maintaining a starting point of 1:10 against the ruble for a long time.
- Laws were adopted on political parties, public organizations and the media. Based on these laws, up to 30 political parties, more than 200 public organizations and more than 500 media outlets have been registered.
- Radical reforms in law enforcement have begun.
- Multi-party parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan for the first time.
- Small businesses were assisted. Many different laws and decrees have been adopted on trade liberalization, on the leasing of unfinished buildings, and programs have been developedon entrepreneurship, privatization, agriculture. Thus, the country has created an ideal legal framework for economic reforms and has taken the first steps in this direction. Thousands of private enterprises have opened, dozens of independent banks, and so on.
- Significant work has been done to attract foreign capital to the economy of Azerbaijan.
- Significant reforms in science, education and culture.
- The country switched to the Latin alphabet.
- In one year, 118 laws and 160 resolutions were adopted.
- A decree was issued on national minorities and ethnic groups who were given financial assistance and the opportunity to use radio and television.
The people loved their national leader very much, but despite this, there were those who wanted to overthrow him: we can cite Abulfaz Elchibey and Emin Milli as an example, who spoke impartially about him.
The President's economic policy was mainly focused on two goals:
- Protect the state economy from collapse and prevent the looting of state property, strengthen labor discipline, accountability of officials to the state and protect public we alth.
- To achieve the formation of a market economy in the republic through liberal economic reforms. For this, the State Property Committee, the State Committee for Antimonopoly Policy and Entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Economy, the Land Committee and other state bodies were created.
People's leader in memory
Abulfaz Gadirgulu oglu, who was not only the leader of the National Liberation Movement, but also a harbinger of democracy and a leading figure in the entire Turkic world, died on August 22, 2000 in Ankara at the age of 63. Until his death, he continued the path begun by Mammad Emin Rasulzade, one of the founders of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Until the very end, he fought for democracy and national unity.
To this day, Abulfaz Elchibey lives in the hearts of many people who continue his work.
Every year on June 24 in Baku people go to the monument of this great politician and wonderful man with flowers to honor his memory.
