Istanbul Deputy, President of Turkey-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary Friendship Group and the Marmara Group Foundation Board of Trustees Member Şamil Ayrım wrote an article on Haydar Aliyev's 97th Birthday: "He Loved Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan Also Loved Him"

There are some leaders, they thrust out a hand, lift a nation up, heal their wounds. There are some leaders, what they do is engraved not only in history books and minds, but also in hearts. There are some leaders that their lifetime cannot be imprisoned between the years of birth and death.

The decedent National leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev has went down in history as a Leader with all these qualities. If he was alive, he would be 97 years old today. I commemorate Heydar Aliyev with respect and mercy on his birthday.

The founder of modern Azerbaijan, the great politician Heydar Aliyev, who took Azerbaijan out of the vortex, was born in Nakhichevan on May 10, 1923. He climbed the political stairs to the top. He managed to become one of the most important names of the Soviet Union administration. He passed great struggles and tough exams. Because, those who wanted to prevent a Muslim Turkish politician from taking the top position in the Soviet Union were not few.

He dedicated his life to the development of Azerbaijan. He started to rule Azerbaijan in 1969. At that time, Azerbaijan was behind other countries in the Soviet Union. Aliyev's reforms and strategy made Azerbaijan one of the most developed countries of the Soviets in its 80s.

The Azerbaijani people also witnessed the strong will exhibited by Aliyev with the harsh reaction of the Soviet administration in Moscow after the January 20, 1990 massacre.

When he returned from Moscow to his hometown Nakhichevan, he took a bigger step, which was dangerous compared to the period, and that required courage. He refused the Soviet flag in the Nakhichevan Assembly. Between 1918 and 1920, he officially gave life to the tricolor Azerbaijan flag, which Mehmet Emin Resulzade once called, “The Flag That Rises Once, Will Never Descend” and who was engraved in history.

Then the situation was serious in Baku, there was internal turmoil in the country. The economy collapsed, inflation increased, and the state treasury was empty. While there were great problems, the Armenian Armed Forces were occupying the territory of Azerbaijan, which had just left the Soviets, and therefore did not have a regular army yet.

The people called, Aliyev returned to Baku. With the free will of the people, he elected as president. Since 1993, whatever went wrong has been corrected, a ceasefire has been achieved. On the other hand, it ended the chaos in the country.

He revived the Azerbaijani economy with oil. Resisting the great pressures, the signing of the century's agreement with the world's giant oil companies was the victory of his determination. The country's gate was opened to foreign investors.

Azerbaijani oil reached the world market with its pipelines. The deteriorating economy was on the rise, this rise was reflected in all indicators. 1995 -2003 gross national product, 90.1% and government revenues increased 3.9 times. Inflation was restrained, while the foreign currency reserve increased by 85 times and the foreign trade volume increased 4 times.

Sadly, Aliyev's life full of victory ended at the Cleveland Clinic in the USA on December 12, 2003, at the age of 80. Heydar Aliyev created his country Azerbaijan almost from its ashes.

The decedent 9th President of the Republic of Turkey Suleyman Demirel, a close friend of him, had expressed his thoughts about the decedent Heydar Aliyev in these words: "The presence of independent national state of Azerbaijan is a great event, for the Turkish world, and for the people of Azerbaijan and Turkey. Heydar Aliyev rendered priceless, unforgettable, great services in order to re-establish, stand and strengthen this state and establish connections with Turkey and the rest of the world. His profound experience, strength, determination, farsightedness, peacefulness, eternal love for Azerbaijan and the people of Azerbaijan; Its commitment to Turkish history, culture and Turkishness and its patriotism are above all praise”. In the opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, "Azerbaijan and Turkey tied so tightly that no one can separate." he said. The deceased Aliyev, after his death, a nation of two states, with Azerbaijan and Turkey, under the leadership of our president in Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Mr. Ilham Aliyev, they carried Turkey-Azerbaijan relations to the highest level with Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway TANAP, Tap, Star refinery project that will serve the peace.

On 29 October 1996, in Nakhichevan, I attended the opening ceremonies of the monumental tomb of the decedent poet Hüseyin Cavit, the national poet of Azerbaijan. I witnessed the value and love of tens of thousands of people attending the ceremony. I am extremely proud to know such a leader.

He was a strong leader, a disciplined manager, but it wasn't just respect for his people. He was a lover of Azerbaijan and the nation. Heydar Aliyev's love of Azerbaijan was expressed in the most beautiful way with the "Azerbaijani Poetry" of the Homeland Poet Samet Vurgun.

Foreign knows that you are mine,
My country, my home, my habitation,
You are my motherland from the birth
Are they separated heart from the spirit?
Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

He loved Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan loved him very much.

On this birthday, I commemorate Azerbaijan National leader Heydar Aliyev with gratitude and mercy once again.