The Heydar Aliyev Foundation ( az, Heydər Əliyev Fondu) is a charitable foundation headed by

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

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

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

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...

– the father of the incumbent president

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The foundation has been criticized for not being transparent about its finances.

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 Baku Museum of Modern Art ( az, Bakı müasir incəsənət muzeyi) is a museum of modern art located in Baku, Azerbaijan. History The museum was built at the initiative of the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva and opened on 20 March 2009. ...

, intended as a focus for an "eco-cultural zone" that will also include a white-sand beach, a

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

skyscraper, and a walkway that projects out over the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

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

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

and the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

. 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 (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

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

Berlin City Palace The Berlin Palace (german: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (german: Königliches Schloss), on the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order 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 Gabala, Azerbaijan. The festival is organised with the support of Heydar Aliyev Foundation at the initiative of the rector of the ...

", 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 Ha ...

", and the "

Mstislav Rostropovich Baku International Festival International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival ( az, Mstislav Rostropoviç adına Beynəlxalq musiqi festivalı) – a festival organized by Mstislav Rostropovich in 2006, in Baku and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich’s bir ...

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

Shusha / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...

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