Anyone who has been to Azerbaijan has undoubtedly noticed the billboards to the late Heydar Aliyev (1923-2003), the president of Azerbaijan from 1993-2003* (the nation became independent from the USSR in 1991). His son Ilham Aliyev is now president.These billboards are all over the place. I saw one in a small town. Others appear near the luna park, the airport, and near a street crossing in Baku. And, an image of Haydar appears in the corner of a tv-screen during all broadcasts on Azeri-tv.
This seemed quite amusing when I saw Heydar as I was watching a few minutes of the Billy Wilder classic "The Apartment" with Jack Lemmon speaking Azeri no less!
To western eyes, this seems quite Orwellian, but from what I gather the Aliyevs may actually have a higher approval rating then democratically-elected leaders like George W. Bush and Abdullah Gul (the Turkish prime minister whom many of my friends in Turkey intensely dislike).
Of course, by posting this, I am concerned that this blog will now be banned in Azerbaijan.
*-Upon researching this entry, I found out that Heydar Aliyev actually died in Cleveland!
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