Great people Aleksandr KA RA VAYEV Political scientist, deputy director of the Center for Post-Soviet Space at the Research Analytical Center of Moscow State University Heydar Aliyev: Relevance of heritage in the modern context For the 90th anniversary of the Soviet politician and statesman of international scope MANY OLD PEOPLE 25 YEARS AGO AND TODAY SEE A CHANCE TO MODERNIZE THE FADING POWER OF THE USSR IN THE NAME OF HEYDAR ALIYEV. IT IS NECESSARY TO STATE THE FACT – MANY PERCEIVE ALIYEV IN RUSSIA AND IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION THROUGH A PRISM OF PERSONAL DRAMA: AFTER ALL, THE COLLAPSE OF THE COUNTRY AFFECTED MANY FAMILIES, WHILE ALIYEV COULD GUARANTEE REFORMATION OF THE SOVIET UNION. ACCORDING TO THE RECOLLECTIONS OF SENIOR SOVIET OFFICIALS, HE WAS THE SUBJECT OF A NUMBER OF SCENARIOS FOR THE MODERNIZATION AND PRESERVA- TION OF THE UNION, WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN REALIZED, HAD THE REIGN OF YURIY ANDROPOV LASTED LONGER. THIS ARTICLE IS LARGELY DEDICATED TO THIS LOST OPPORTUNITY. liyev left his mark at two lev- are diffi cult to falsify as it happened large enterprises in the CIS, the larg- els: at the information level, in the cases where the events of the est Soviet railway BAM - a lot was built Ai.e. he left his image in the past were relegated from us at too with his direct participation or through memory of people working with him, great a distance. This is the source of initiatives personally approved by him. and at the physical level, in particular, attention to the fi gure of our hero: he At the same time, we must the fruits of his work. The fi rst level is can be assessed not only by specialists recog nize that there was a circle of largely subjective and emotionally studying archival documents, but also dedicated opponents of Aliyev, who loaded, and it should be cleared from by masses of living people who see his ignored his achievements or inten- the current situation into which the fruits in the current educational system, tionally retouched his fi gure because narrator falls. However, both levels health system, masses of small and of a number of short-term consider- 10 www.irs-az.com Heritage_2_(13)_2013_LAST.indd 10 4/22/13 2:07 PM ations. And they can be found at dif- groups ousted from power in the count that now, 10 years after the ferent levels of the social hierarchy 1990s, mostly successors of the era demise of Aliyev, we can distinguish and on diff erent orbits of power - his of the anarchy of the national demo- at least some stages of his activity: as former ideological and political op- cratic revolution in Azerbaijan. Finally, head of a Soviet republic, as fi rst dep- ponents in the Politburo, fi rst of all, it is clear that Aliyev has very few well- uty prime minister (Deputy Chair- Mikhail Gorbachev and Aleksandr Ya- wishers in modern Armenia, but it is man of the USSR Council of Minis- kovlev, and their ideological succes- the consequence of the well-known ters), a politician of Politburo caliber, sors in Russia from the camp of the confl ict. It is also worth noting here and then an eventful transit decade liberal-democratic opposition of the that Aliyev was always appreciated as president of independent post-So- fi rst wave, who tried to form a nega- by prominent representatives of the viet Azerbaijan. These periods do not tive stereotype about Aliyev and hide Armenian elite (remember the recol- match by the scale of the tasks and the scope of his bright erudition and lections of actor Armen Jigarkhanyan the level of power he had and by the communication style behind the or the recollections of contempo- geographical scope of his respon- overall faceless color of the Soviet raries about Aliyev’s respectful and sibilities. At the same time, they are bureaucracy. The fi rst opponents and business relationships with the fi rst united and integrated into the fate critics of Aliyev’s policies emerged as secretary of the Central Committee of one man. His work as the leader a result of the anti-corruption cam- of the Armenian SSR, Karen Demir- of Soviet Azerbaijan became a step- paigns of the 1960s-70s in Azerbaijan, chyan). In general, it must be recog- ping stone to fi ve years in the Krem- organized by Aliyev in the position of nized that enemies are the fl ip side of lin from November 1982 to October First Secretary of the Central Com- his achievements. A strong personal- 1987, but even in Moscow, he kept mittee of the republic’s Communist ity of this magnitude does not have his fi nger on the pulse of the repub- Party (1). The second broader group to be liked by everyone. lic’s development. These were two of off ended opponents formed from It is necessary to take into ac- more or less independent lines of www.irs-az.com 11 Heritage_2_(13)_2013_LAST.indd 11 4/22/13 2:07 PM Great people health care stand out. On the initia- tive of Aliyev, the fi rst comprehen- sive diagnostic centers were created; Soviet surgeons were allowed to conduct open-heart surgery. Aliyev launched Svyatoslav Fyodorov’s Cen- ter for Eye Microsurgery and lobbied for the creation of his mobile labora- tory on a river boat sailing the Volga. In August 1987, he began medical reform that covered the period up to 2000, which had a positive impact on the state of medicine. The current state of medical technology and ma- terial resources of medical science in Russia still use Aliyev’s spurt. The “disposal” of Soviet inheritance has not yet fi nished: businesses, con- activity. You can call them the era of In January 1984, school reform trol and communications structures, “Aliyev for Azerbaijan” and “Aliyev for began in the Soviet Union. Its main transport communications operate Russia”. Today, for masses of ordinary developer and curator was Aliyev. and even the models of decision- people in Azerbaijan, he has become The general education, professional making in Russia are similar to the a symbol of the self-made success of schools, the training of teachers and 1980s. For example, the general plan an Azerbaijani in the Soviet Union, the system of preschool education for the development of Moscow un- and in relation to the post-Soviet were reformed. It was suggested that til 2000 was adopted partly under the period, he is often referred to as the primary schools should start a year infl uence of Aliyev’s initiatives made Azerbaijani Ataturk. earlier - from 6 years; the period of in a speech in the House of Architects What are the milestones of Aliyev’s study at the secondary school was in Moscow in October 1981. We can “Moscow period”? He controlled 12 extended from 10 to 11 years. A new recall his methods of targeted state ministries, oversaw engineering, light subject was introduced in schools support in the fi eld of culture. Thus, industry, transport and communica- - the basis of computer technology many elements of his management tions, and he was also in charge of and programming, and Soviet-made practices are still used today. Many cultural and educational spheres. In personal computers were purchased parts of Russia, Central Asia and the 1986, Aliyev was appointed chairman en masse. The reform raised the pub- Caucasus have a suffi cient level of of the Bureau for Social Develop ment lic prestige of the school and the various types of infrastructure thanks in the USSR Council of Ministers. He authority of the teaching profession to the breakthrough of the 1970-80’s. participated in a number of non-core (the salary increased by 30 per cent Heydar Aliyev had a direct relation to projects in related fi elds. For exam- and guarantees of social conditions this work. ple, Aliyev headed the Commission were introduced), and the structure Based on the results of the 1980’s, on Operational Issues at the Council of education management changed. many remember that it was then that of Ministers, which included deputy By 1989, Aliyev’s project provided they acquired an apartment without prime ministers and several minis- for the construction of schools for bank loans, bought a country house ters. With the arrival of Aliyev, the 7,000,000 pupils and 800 vocational and their fi rst car. From July 1985 it commission convened every Mon- schools. The Russian law on “Educa- was allowed to sell durable goods on day and became virtually a govern- tion” signed by Vladimir Putin in De- credit with minimum (2-3 per cent) ing body of the Council of Ministers, cember 2012 is the evolutionary de- interest rates. Largely due to vari- deciding many pressing issues of velopment of the base that was laid ous programs of the USSR Council economic governance. Sometimes it in the 1980s. of Ministers with the participation was called “the second Politburo”. Reforms in the social sphere and of Aliyev, the low-paid categories of 12 www.irs-az.com Heritage_2_(13)_2013_LAST.indd 12 4/22/13 2:11 PM professions could aff ord an adequate tems was not lower than now, and on the effi ciency of transport. It is standard of living. perhaps there were more complex known that the Aliyev-Konarev work- Aliyev’s activity was a response twists and turns given the huge size ing partnership was the most eff ec- to the challenge about the technical of the command apparatus of power tive tandem on Soviet rail transport.