Abbas Abbasov: biography of a long-liver of Azerbaijani politics

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

A politician in the East lives in an atmosphere of constant tension and at any moment can fall from the heights of power to the very bottom. In the countries of the former USSR, this is aggravated by the old traditions of representatives of the party nomenklatura. People like Abbas Abbasov, whose biography will be described below, deserve the closest attention, because the politician managed to occupy one of the most important posts in the government under the four presidents of Azerbaijan. Standing out brightly against the background of the gray mass of officials, he made himself a huge number of both friends and enemies.

Soviet period

The biography of Abbas Aydin oglu Abbasov begins its countdown in 1949 in the city of Kirovobad, Azerbaijan SSR. He received his education at the Azerbaijan Agricultural Institute. The student chose the humble profession of a veterinarian as his future occupation.

After graduating from high school in 1971, he began to conscientiously work out his diploma at the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan. Here Abbas Aydin oglu Abbasov rose to the position of senior veterinarian at the republican laboratory and worked until 1979. Then the young promising specialist was appointed to the responsible position of director of the Baku Broiler Factory.

In 1982, Abbas Abbasov's biography took an unexpected turn. A native of Azerbaijan is transferred to distant Uzbekistan, where he holds the position of deputy chairman of the republic's committee on poultry farming.

At the junction of eras

In Uzbekistan, the young statesman Abbas Aydin oglu Abbasov faced serious difficulties. In 1989, mass cases of corruption and theft of property were discovered in the poultry farm of the southern republic. An Azerbaijani veterinarian was jailed along with other responsible persons.

At that time, the power of the center was noticeably shaken, and much already depended on the leaders of the republics. Islam Karimov had already become the head of Uzbekistan at that time. In order to rescue his countryman from the terrible Central Asian zindan, Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov personally turned to Karimov, using good relations with his old comrade. So Abbas Abbasov for the first and last time ended up in places of deprivation of liberty, escaping with a slight fright.

Returning to Azerbaijan, the former prisoner headed the Absheron Poultry Association, after which in 1990 he becamethe first secretary of the district committee of the party in the Absheron region.

Cynicism as a method of politics

Ayaz Mutalibov, the first president of Azerbaijan, did not forget about his favorite and after the republic gained independence, he appointed the former "Uzbek poultry farmer" as a state adviser. At the same time, Abbas Abbasov successfully ran for the parliament of the republic, firmly taking his place in the political life of the country.

However, a native of Kirovobad put his ambitions first, skillfully maneuvering between various political forces and entering into complex political alliances. He easily abandoned his former allies and always correctly assessed the current situation in the country.

The same Ayas Mutalibov did insanely much for Abbasov, appointing him in 1992 to the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic. This, however, did not prevent the hardened politician from practically surrendering his former patron in a difficult situation for him. Almost a few days later, he went over to the camp of Mutalibov's political opponents and became a loyal ally of Elchibey. However, this stab in the back of his savior was not the last in the biography of Abbas Abbasov.

A few years later, the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan undertook to fulfill the order of the third president, Heydar Aliyev, and went to Moscow, where Mutalibov was then hiding, to demand the extradition of the disgraced ex-head of state from the Russian authorities.

Permanent "gray cardinal"

Politician Abbas Abbasov alwaysstood out from his mediocre colleagues in government. An excellent speaker, a skilled administrator, he overshadowed the figures of numerous chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers, in which he worked for almost fifteen years, having survived the reign of four presidents during this time. However, his political cynicism, lack of guarantees of loy alty and opportunism became the reasons why Heydar Aliyev did not dare to entrust too much power into his hands.

He was always the main candidate for the post of prime minister, for some time he even officially acted as head of the cabinet of ministers, but Aliyev always did not let a dangerous competitor get too close to him.

Abasov remained First Deputy Prime Minister even with the son of the deceased Heydar Aliyev. Ilham also did not dare to leave the government without its permanent shadow leader.

Foreign relations

Especially the leaders of Azerbaijan appreciated Abbasov for his diplomatic qualities. He headed the committee on interethnic relations, commissions on economic relations with individual states. It was the politician Abbas Aydin oglu Abbasov who managed to agree with Yeltsin on maintaining close relations with Azerbaijan, despite the current conflict between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan.

After all, in those years there was a real talk about the introduction of a visa regime, the complete closure of borders. Abbasov managed to convince the Russian leadership of the recklessness of such a step, and besides that, he also managed to organize a massive supply of Russian weapons to the country.

Close friendship with the "gray cardinal"Yeltsin-era Berezovsky allowed him to establish ties with the Chechen business and the criminal world.

Trade in grain, metal, transport companies - all this represented the area of interest of the Deputy Prime Minister, and he successfully developed his own business with the help of Chechen clans.

Departure of the patriarch of Azerbaijani politics

Ilham Aliyev did not take risks and keep a strong politician too close to real power. In 2006, the permanent Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov resigned. Considering the scale of the figure, it was decided to organize a beautiful departure of the politician. Otherwise, the young president of the republic risked getting an embittered oppositionist at his side. Abbasov himself, in turn, did not protest and showed complete loy alty, declaring himself a loyal soldier of the republic and the president, and expressed his readiness to return to work at any moment.

It has become dangerous to stay at home, a politician with flexible principles has made too many enemies.

He moved to Moscow, where he threw himself into business. In 2012, he returned to public activities and headed the Union of Azerbaijani Communities of Russia and the national-cultural autonomy of Azerbaijanis. In 2016, Abbasov left the ranks of the last association.