Today is the birthday of Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijan Culture Foundation, and President of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation.
Mehriban Aliyeva was born on August 26, 1964, in Baku into an intellectual family. She graduated with honors from the First Moscow State Medical Institute named after I. M. Sechenov in 1988.
Mehriban Aliyeva and Ilham Aliyev married in 1983 and have three children. According to her interviews, both her mother’s dreams and the advice of Ilham Aliyev’s mother, Zarifa Aliyeva, played an important role in her choice of profession.
On October 7, 2002, she was elected President of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF). At that time, the AGF focused on developing four gymnastics disciplines. Today, nine disciplines are actively promoted in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani gymnasts have participated in the Olympic Games and won medals at World and European Championships. Azerbaijan has successfully hosted 17 World Cups, 2 World Championships, and 5 European Championships in gymnastics. Since 2014, the National Gymnastics Arena, one of the rare sports facilities in the world, has been available for training and competitions. Thanks to Mehriban Aliyeva’s development strategy, gymnastics sections now operate in 18 regions of Azerbaijan. For six consecutive years, AGF has been recognized by the International Gymnastics Federation as one of the top 10 national federations, and it has led this ranking in the last three years, reflecting her exceptional organizational skills and growing international reputation.
On December 28, 2004, Mehriban Aliyeva was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan at its IV General Assembly. On December 8, 2012, the General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees decided to hold the first European Games in Baku in 2015. To ensure the successful organization of the inaugural European Games, an Organizing Committee was established on January 17, 2013, and Mehriban Aliyeva was appointed its Chairperson.
In June 2014, she was awarded the “Olympic Excellence” special honorary award by the International Olympic Academy for her services in promoting Olympic values. On January 21, 2016, in recognition of her special contributions to the development of sport in Europe, the Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committees presented Mehriban Aliyeva with the highest award of the European Olympic Committees, the Grand Order.
On behalf of the team at Idman.biz, we sincerely congratulate Mehriban Aliyeva on her birthday and wish her continued success in her tireless efforts for the bright future of Azerbaijan!
Idman.biz
