The Heydar Aliyev Foundation () is a private foundation headed by

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

's First Lady

Mehriban Aliyeva Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva (; born 26 August 1964) is an Azerbaijani politician and physician who is the Vice President of Azerbaijan, vice president and First Lady of Azerbaijan, First Lady of Azerbaijan. She is married to Ilham Aliyev, the pre ...

. The foundation is named after Azerbaijan's former president,

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to ...

– the father of the incumbent president

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

. The foundation has been criticized for not being transparent about its finances, and for being a vehicle of corruption.

History

died in 2003, and the foundation was created in 2004 by

Structure of the foundation

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation is a non-governmental and non-commercial organization. Representative office cooperates with different countries in an international scale. Foundation's offices are operated abroad such as,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Activities

According to a 2009 EurasiaNet article, "The HAF builds more schools than Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education, more hospitals than the Ministry of Health, and conducts more cultural events than the Ministry of Culture." It funded the Baku Museum of Modern Art, intended as a focus for an "eco-cultural zone" that will also include a white-sand beach, a

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

skyscraper, and a walkway that projects out over the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. The foundation has sponsored several projects in France, helping to finance renovations at the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. The foundation gave €40,000 to help renovate stained-glass windows in France's

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', ), also known as Strasbourg Minster (church), Minster (), is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of ...

. In 2011, the foundation donated €50,000 for the reconstruction of the

Berlin City Palace The Berlin Palace (), formerly known as the Royal Palace (), is a large building adjacent to Berlin Cathedral and the Museum Island in the Mitte (Berlin), Mitte area of Berlin. It was the main Official residence, residence of the Margraviate of ...

. Other international projects have included rebuilding a school in Pakistan that had been destroyed by an earthquake and organizing events in 2011 in Moscow and St. Petersburg to showcase Azerbaijani art and music. The foundation takes part in the organization and holding of musical festivals like the "

Gabala International Music Festival Gabala International Music Festival is an annual festival of classical music held every summer beginning in 2009 in Qabala, Gabala, Azerbaijan. The festival is organised with the support of Heydar Aliyev Foundation at the initiative of the rector ...

", the " World of Mugham Festival", the "

Uzeyir Hajibeyov International Music Festival The Uzeyir Hajibeyov International Music Festival is held in September, since 2009, in Azerbaijan. Musical events are held in several cities of Azerbaijan, and the main ceremonies take place in Baku. History Since 1995, September 18 (Uzeyir Haj ...

", and the "

Mstislav Rostropovich Baku International Festival International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival () – a festival organized by Mstislav Rostropovich in 2006, in Baku and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a So ...

". In May 2021, the foundation brought back the " Kharibulbul International Folklore Festival" in

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

, 30 years since it last took place (1991). The festival continued to be celebrated in 2022. The foundation funded the restoration of the

catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

in the Vatican based on the agreement signed on June 22, 2012, by the president of the foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, and the minister of culture of the Vatican, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravazi. Between 2004 and 2014, the foundation published numerous booklets and books talking about Azerbaijan's history, culture, art, cuisine and nature.

References

External links

Official website of Heydar Aliyev Foundation (English version)
{{Authority control Organizations based in Baku Foundations based in Azerbaijan Organizations established in 2004 2004 establishments in Azerbaijan Arts in Azerbaijan Culture in Baku