The Baku–Supsa Pipeline (also known as the Western Route Export Pipeline and Western Early Oil Pipeline ) is an 833-kilometre (518 mi) long oil pipeline, which runs from the Sangachal Terminal near Baku to the Supsa terminal in Georgia . It transports oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field. The pipeline is operated by BP .
127-458: The preparations for the pipeline's construction started in 1994. On 8 March 1996, President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze agreed on the establishment of Baku–Supsa pipeline. The trilateral contract was signed between Azerbaijan International Operating Company , SOCAR and the Government of Georgia. At the same year the lead contract of the project
254-711: A Smersh battalion, which conducted intelligence operations on the Soviet Union's own forces and executed soldiers who deserted or fought insufficiently hard. He joined the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) in 1944 and proceeded to become the department head of the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan SSR in 1950, after he graduated from the Senior Staff Training School of
381-404: A ceasefire agreement was signed by representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic , which successfully put an end to the hostilities in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. While agreeing to the ceasefire, Aliyev rejected Russian proposals to deploy a peacekeeping contingent to Nagorno-Karabakh. Following the ceasefire, Aliyev periodically engaged in negotiations with
508-563: A nationwide referendum . Aliyev disbanded 33 battalions loyal to Elchibey's Popular Front party. Amid this turmoil, Azerbaijan lost enormous swaths of territory to Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and had effectively lost the First Nagorno-Karabakh War . On 3 October 1993, Aliyev organized the 1993 Azerbaijani presidential election where he allowed two unknown candidates to run against him. He
635-485: A presidential election where he won nearly 99% of the vote. His regime in Azerbaijan has been described as dictatorial, authoritarian, and repressive. He was also said to have run a heavy-handed police state where elections were rigged and dissent was repressed. A cult of personality developed around Aliyev, which has continued after his death in 2003. Shortly before his death, his son Ilham Aliyev
762-548: A samizdat publication that was itself finally forced out of existence after its 30 June 1982 issue. On 3 July 1967, Andropov proposed to establish the KGB's Fifth Directorate to deal with the political opposition (ideological counterintelligence ). At the end of July, the directorate was established and entered in its files cases of all Soviet dissidents, including Andrei Sakharov and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn . In 1968, as KGB chairman, Andropov issued
889-585: A state funeral in Red Square , in a service attended by numerous foreign leaders, such as U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush , British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl , Italian President Sandro Pertini , East German First Secretary Erich Honecker , Polish First Secretary Wojciech Jaruzelski , Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi , Cuban President Fidel Castro , and Irish President Patrick Hillery . Eulogists were Chernenko, Ustinov, Gromyko, Georgi Markov (head of
1016-750: A Joint Statement on future relations between the US and Azerbaijan in defense and military issues. During this trip (27 July-5 August 1997), a statement on intentions of formation of bilateral dialogue between the US and Azerbaijan regarding energy issues and the general agreement between the Government of the Azerbaijani Republic, the National Bank, and the US Export-Import Bank on the promotion of projects were signed. Additionally, 4 agreements on development and production sharing for
1143-446: A civilian jet liner, Korean Air Flight KAL-007 , which carried 269 passengers and crew. It had strayed over the Soviet Union on 1 September 1983 on its scheduled route from Anchorage , Alaska , to Seoul , South Korea . Andropov kept secret that the Soviet Union held in its possession the black box from KAL 007 that proved the pilot had made a typographical error when entering data in the automatic pilot. The Soviet air defence system
1270-847: A compromise for reducing nuclear missiles in Europe on both sides that the Politburo ignored. Kvitsinsky later wrote that, despite his efforts, the Soviet leadership was not interested in compromise, instead calculating that peace movements in the West would force the Americans to capitulate. On 8 March 1983, Reagan called the Soviet Union an " evil empire ". On 23 March, he announced the Strategic Defense Initiative . Reagan claimed this research program into ballistic missile defense
1397-508: A family of town dwellers and was abandoned on the doorstep of Jewish watchmaker and Finnish citizen , Karl Franzevich Fleckenstein, who lived in Moscow. He and his wife, Eudokia Mikhailovna Fleckenstein, adopted and raised her. Andropov's earliest documented name was Grigory Vladimirovich Andropov-Fyodorov which he changed to Yuri Andropov several years later. His original birth certificate disappeared, but it has been established that Andropov
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#17327869890741524-613: A full member of the Soviet Politburo and appointed him to the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, responsible for transportation and social services. Aliyev thus attained the highest position ever reached by an Azerbaijani in the Soviet Union. Aliyev was dismissed from his position as First Deputy Premier and from the Politburo by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, officially on health grounds, but
1651-461: A speech on live television in April 2003. On 6 August, Aliyev returned to the US for treatment of congestive heart failure and kidney problems. He did not return to Azerbaijan again. Less than two weeks before the 2003 Azerbaijani presidential election , he withdrew his candidacy and appointed his son Ilham as his party's sole presidential candidate. On 12 December 2003, President Aliyev died at
1778-402: A ten-year exile as ambassador to Canada after attacking Russian chauvinism. Yakovlev was also a close colleague of Andropov associate KGB General Yevgeny Primakov , later Prime Minister of Russia . Andropov began to follow a trend of replacing elderly officials with considerably younger ones. According to his former subordinate Securitate general Ion Mihai Pacepa : In the West, if Andropov
1905-623: A typical Soviet jailer who violated human rights. Andropov headed the organisation which persecuted the most remarkable people of our country." According to Petrov, it was a shame for the USSR that a persecutor of intelligentsia and of freedom of thought became leader of the country. According to Roy Medvedev , the year that Andropov spent in power was memorable for increasing repression against dissidents. During most of his KGB career, Andropov crushed dissident movements, isolated people in psychiatric hospitals, imprisoned them, and deported them. According to political scientist Georgy Arbatov , Andropov
2032-513: Is remembered at all, it is for his brutal suppression of political dissidence at home and for his role in planning the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia . By contrast, the leaders of the former Warsaw Pact intelligence community, when I was one of them, looked up to Andropov as the man who substituted the KGB for the Communist party in governing the Soviet Union, and who was the godfather of Russia's new era of deception operations aimed at improving
2159-509: Is reported that Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor were to be effectively ceded to Armenia while Azerbaijan would regain the seven occupied districts and receive land access to Nakhchivan through Armenian territory. Despite initial reports that the two sides were closer than ever to coming to a final agreement, Aliyev, who is said to have met significant opposition to the conditions from his inner circle, declined to go forward with
2286-600: Is responsible for many injustices in the 1970s and early 1980s: deportations, political arrests, persecuting dissidents, the abuse of psychiatry, and notorious cases such as the persecution of academician Andrei Sakharov . According to Dmitri Volkogonov and Harold Shukman , Andropov approved the numerous trials of human rights activists such as Andrei Amalrik , Vladimir Bukovsky , Viacheslav Chornovil , Zviad Gamsakhurdia , Alexander Ginzburg , Natalya Gorbanevskaya , Petro Grigorenko , and Anatoly Sharansky . According to Natalya Gorbanevskaya , after Andropov came to power
2413-491: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution . Andropov played a key role in crushing the uprising. He convinced Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev that military intervention was necessary. Andropov is known as "The Butcher of Budapest" for his ruthless suppression of the uprising. Hungarian leaders were arrested and Imre Nagy and others executed. After these events, Andropov suffered from a "Hungarian complex", according to historian Christopher Andrew : "He had watched in horror from
2540-828: The Azerbaijani KGB in 1960 and eventually received the rank of major general . During his time in Soviet secret service, Aliyev was mostly unknown in Azerbaijan. Aliyev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan Communist Party at its Plenary Session held on 12 July 1969. He was reportedly selected for the job by Brezhnev after his friend Semyon Tsvigun , Brezhnev's brother-in-law, advocated for Aliyev's selection. Aliyev subsequently dominated affairs in Soviet-era Azerbaijan. Described as
2667-654: The CPSU , the first former head of the KGB to become general secretary. His appointment was received in the West with apprehension in view of his roles in the KGB and in Hungary. At the time his personal background was a mystery in the West, with major newspapers printing detailed profiles of him that were inconsistent and in several cases fabricated. Andropov divided responsibilities in the Politburo with his chief deputy, Konstantin Chernenko . Andropov took control of organizing
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#17327869890742794-564: The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union an elaborate plan to create a network of psychiatric hospitals to defend the "Soviet Government and socialist order" from dissidents. In January 1970, Andropov submitted an account to his fellow Politburo members of the widespread threat of the mentally ill to the regime's stability and security. His proposal to use psychiatry for struggle against dissidents
2921-603: The Cold War , emphasizing technology that Moscow lacked. The main response was to raise the Soviet military budget to 70% of the total budget and supply billions of dollars of military aid to Syria , Iraq , Libya , South Yemen , the Palestine Liberation Organization , Cuba , and North Korea . That included tanks and armored troop carriers, hundreds of fighter planes, anti-aircraft systems, artillery systems, and other high-tech equipment of which
3048-830: The Communist Party in 1939. Andropov was educated at the Rybinsk Water Transport Technical College and graduated in 1936. As a teenager he worked as a loader, a telegraph clerk, and a sailor for the Volga steamship line. At 16, then a member of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (YCL, or Komsomol ), Andropov was a worker in the town of Mozdok in the North Ossetian ASSR . Andropov became full-time secretary of
3175-486: The Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan . Aliyev perceived the military as a threat to his rule. Many of the military commanders from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were imprisoned by his government. When war veterans from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict protested against his government, the government arrested many of them and shut down the veterans rights organization. Aliyev requested the elimination of
3302-696: The European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan was signed in Luxembourg on 22 April 1996, and went into effect on 22 June 1999. It promises cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, economy, legislation, culture, immigration and the prevention of illicit trade. Azerbaijan received assistance from the EU for economic reforms in the country through the TACIS and TRACECA programmes. The “Restoration of
3429-901: The International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism adopted by UN SC in 1999. The Partnership for Peace (PfP) Framework Document was signed to enhance security and defense cooperation with NATO on 4 May 1994. Aliyev approved the PfP Presentation Document on 19 April 1996. In November 1997, Azerbaijan joined the PfP Planning and Review Process. NATO PA also made Azerbaijan an associate member of NATO in November. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between
3556-956: The Planned economy introduced under Joseph Stalin . In his memoirs, Gorbachev wrote that when Andropov was the leader, Gorbachev and Gosplan chairman Nikolai Ryzhkov asked him for access to real budget figures. "You are asking too much", Andropov responded. "The budget is off limits to you." In contrast to Brezhnev's policy of avoiding conflicts and dismissals, Andropov began to fight violations of party, state and labor discipline, which led to significant personnel changes during an anti-corruption campaign against many of Brezhnev's cronies. During his 15 months in office, Andropov dismissed 18 ministers and 37 first secretaries of obkoms , kraikoms and Central Committees of Communist Parties of Soviet Republics, and criminal cases against high-level party and state officials were started. Biographers including Solovyov and Klepikova and Zhores Medvedev have discussed
3683-554: The Russian Civil War , had become a site of pilgrimage for covert monarchists . With the Politburo's approval, the house, deemed to be not of "sufficient historical significance", was demolished in September 1977, less than a year before the murders' 60th anniversary. According to Yaakov Kedmi , Andropov was particularly keen to persecute any sign of Zionism in order to distance himself from his Jewish heritage. He
3810-590: The Solidarity movement and promoted reform-minded party cadres, including Mikhail Gorbachev . Andropov was the longest-serving KGB chairman and did not resign as head of the KGB until May 1982, when he was again promoted to the Secretariat to succeed Mikhail Suslov as secretary responsible for ideological affairs. Two days after Brezhnev's death , on 12 November 1982, Andropov was elected general secretary of
3937-721: The USSR State Security Committee . In 1954, as part of a government reform, the NKGB, which was previously named the Ministry of State Security (MGB), was again renamed, this time as the KGB . Sources point to Aliyev working in the Azerbaijani KGB's Eastern Division, which included Iran and the Middle East. During this time, Aliyev was a close associate of Semyon Tvsigun. Aliyev became head of
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4064-800: The Union of Soviet Writers ), and Ivan Senkin (First Secretary of the Karelian Regional Committee of the CPSU). Andropov was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis , in one of the 12 tombs between the Lenin Mausoleum and the Kremlin wall . Andropov was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko , who seemed to mirror Andropov's tenure. Chernenko had already been afflicted with severe health problems when he ascended to
4191-619: The fall of Shusha , the last Azerbaijani-populated town in Nagorno-Karabakh . These events resulted in Mutallibov's resignation and the subsequent rise to power of the Azerbaijan Popular Front led by Abulfaz Elchibey . Elchibey was elected as president in Azerbaijan's first free and fair elections in 1992. During Elchibey's one year in power, Aliyev continued to govern Nakhchivan without any deference to
4318-463: The leader of the Soviet Union . Subsequently, he sought to eliminate corruption and inefficiency in the country by criminalizing truancy in the workplace and investigating longtime officials for violations of party discipline. Under Andropov's leadership, the Cold War intensified while the regime struggled to handle the growing crisis in the Soviet economy. His major long-term impact was bringing to
4445-445: The "Monarch of Azerbaijan", Aliyev established an extensive patronage network across Azerbaijan and profited on the black market. According to Harold James Perkin, Aliyev was "surrounded by female ‘volunteers’ whose services were mainly sexual." In his obituary, The Washington Post wrote, "He made a name for himself by smashing local mafia groups, but his personal circle moved in to profit off oil, caviar and other sectors." Aliyev
4572-543: The Armenian invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions, and mentioned UN resolutions 822 , 853 , 874 , 884 , which demanded unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. After 11 September attacks , Azerbaijan joined the anti-terror coalition of UN and cooperated with Office of Counter-Terrorism and Sanctions Committee of the UN SC . In October 2001, Azerbaijan joined
4699-721: The Armenian side mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chair countries (Russia, France and the United States) for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. At the OSCE Lisbon Summit in December 1996, all of the OSCE member states except for Armenia signed a declaration affirming Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and stating that Nagorno-Karabakh's right to self-determination should be realized in
4826-416: The Armenian side: he had already confidentially met with Karabakh Armenian leader Robert Kocharyan twice in Moscow soon before assuming the presidency, and Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives had agreed to prolong a ceasefire in September 1993. The negotiations bore no results and the ceasefire did not hold, however, and Armenian forces captured additional territories soon after Aliyev's inauguration. In
4953-639: The Azerbaijan Republic until the year 2010", and "The common declaration of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev" were signed in the latter meeting. Establishing closer relations and developing cooperation with the US were among the main goals of Aliyev's foreign policy. He stated in one of his speeches regarding this issue: “The relations of Azerbaijan with
5080-700: The Azerbaijan SSR. He also promoted Azerbaijani culture and language. In the early 1980s, Aliyev barred the children of certain legal personnel from attending the republic's law school, in a purported effort to curb a self-perpetuating elite based on corruption. Aliyev was subsequently promoted to the Moscow Politburo in 1976. Aliyev became a candidate (non-voting) member of the Soviet Politburo in 1976. He held this position until December 1982, when Yuri Andropov promoted him to
5207-518: The Azerbaijani legislative system so it could fulfill the requirements of European standards and international law. On 28 June 2000, Azerbaijan's full admission to the CoE was recommended at the session of Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE . Azerbaijan became a full member of the CoE on 17 January 2001; the official ceremony was conducted on 25 January 2001. Presidential orders “On the implementation of
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5334-602: The Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea were signed. After the visit, Aliyev issued an order on “Measures to expand partnership relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United States” on 2 September 1997. Azerbaijan joined a US-lead international coalition against terrorism after 11 September attacks, and sent a military contingent to Afghanistan. An amendment to the Freedom Support Act
5461-597: The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 1998 in Ankara . The ground-breaking ceremony of BTC took place in September 2002 with the participation of Aliyev, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer , and Georgian President Edward Shevardnadze . The decision to export Azerbaijani crude oil to the Port of Novorossiysk was made through a contract signed in Moscow on 18 February 1996. Oil transportation through this route
5588-533: The Central Committee. It was far too much for Chernenko to handle, and other Politburo members were not given major assignments. At home, Andropov attempted to improve the USSR's economy by increasing its workforce's efficiency. He cracked down on Soviet laborers' lack of discipline by decreeing the arrest of absentee employees and penalties for tardiness. For the first time, the facts about economic stagnation and obstacles to scientific progress were made available to
5715-634: The Cleveland Clinic. He was given a large state funeral and buried at the Alley of Honor cemetery in Baku. Heydar Aliyev's son Ilham Aliyev won a presidential election on 15 October 2003 widely considered to have been fraudulent. International observers criticized the contest as falling well below expected standards. Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (15 June [ O.S. 2 June] 1914 – 9 February 1984)
5842-664: The Communist Party of Azerbaijan. He held the post of First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1987. He rose through the ranks due to his close associations with Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov . Aliyev was installed as president of Azerbaijan after the 1993 military coup ousted President Abulfaz Elchibey . Elchibey was a prominent Soviet dissident and Azerbaijani nationalist leader who had been elected as president in independent Azerbaijan's first free election in 1992 . Aliyev's installation as president put an end to Azerbaijan's short post-independence democratic interlude. Shortly after taking charge, Aliyev organized
5969-401: The Historic Silk Road” international conference was organized in Baku on 8 September 1998 by Aliyev and President Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia with the support of the TACIS and TRACECA programmes. Azerbaijan participated as a specially invited guest at the Council of Europe (CoE) on 28 June 1996. Consequently, a number of resolutions and legal acts were adopted from 1996–2001 to improve
6096-441: The Ministry of State Security Academy in Leningrad and graduated in 1944. He also took Senior Staff Professional Development courses at the Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB in Moscow in 1966. In 1948, Aliyev married Zarifa Aliyeva . On 12 October 1955, their daughter Sevil Aliyeva was born. On 24 December 1961, their son Ilham was born. Zarifa Aliyeva died of cancer in 1985. During World War II, he served as commander of
6223-491: The Nakhchivan Pedagogical School, Aliyev attended the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University ) from 1939 to 1941, where he studied architecture. In 1949 and 1950, he studied at the USSR Ministry of State Security Higher School in Leningrad . Aliyev's official biography also states that he studied at Baku State University , graduating with a degree in history in 1957. According to American journalist Pete Earley , Aliyev first attended
6350-485: The Russian aviation had bombed the pipeline. In Summer of 2012 pipeline was down a month for a maintenance. In July 2015 Russian troops demarcating the de facto border of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia, pushed forward the border line near the village of Orchosani and thereby taking control over a short length of the pipeline. Analysts suggest that this was a Russian reaction to dissuade Georgia from making further moves towards joining NATO. While conceding that
6477-401: The Soviet Union to invade Poland by repeating the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia to suppress the Prague Spring . This effectively marked the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine . The pacification of Poland was thus left to Jaruzelski, Kiszczak and their Polish forces. From 1980 to 1982, while still chair of the KGB, Andropov opposed plans to occupy Poland after the emergence of
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#17327869890746604-507: The Soviet Union was in response to a letter from a 10-year-old American child, Samantha Smith , inviting her to the Soviet Union. She came, but he was too ill to meet with her, thus revealing his grave condition to the world. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union suspended talks with the U.S. on intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe in November 1983, and by the end of the year the Soviets had broken off all arms control negotiations. Massive bad publicity worldwide came when Soviet fighters shot down
6731-466: The Soviet army in Afghanistan , threatened revolt in Poland , growing animosity with China , the polarization threat of war in the Middle East , and civil strife in Ethiopia and South Africa . The most critical threat was the " Second Cold War " U.S. President Ronald Reagan launched, and the specific attack on rolling back what he called the " Evil Empire ". Reagan used American economic power and Soviet economic weakness to escalate massive spending on
6858-442: The Soviet times sections were repaired. In total, the repair works cost US$ 53 million. The oil shipment restarted in June 2008. After a major explosion and fire, which closed the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline on 6 August 2008, the Baku–Supsa Pipeline was used to re-route Azeri oil deliveries. On 12 August 2008, BP closed the pipeline temporarily for safety reasons because of the South Ossetia conflict . On August 10 and 12 2008,
6985-442: The Supsa terminal have a total capacity of 160,000 cubic metres. The capacity of the pipeline is 7.2 million tons a year (145,000 barrels per day (23,100 m/d)) with proposed upgrades to between 300,000 to 600,000 barrels per day (48,000 to 95,000 m/d). From 1999 to 2016, 76.3 million tons of oil were transported through the pipeline. In 2021, it carried 4.2 million tons. The cost of transporting one ton of oil through
7112-518: The USSR in a manner that did not result in its eventual dissolution . The Western media generally favored Andropov, but the short time he spent as leader, much of it in ill health, leaves debaters few concrete indications as to the nature of an extended rule. The 2002 Tom Clancy novel Red Rabbit focuses heavily on Andropov during his tenure of KGB chief, when his health was slightly better. It mirrors his secrecy in that British and American intelligence know little about him, not even able to confirm he
7239-487: The USSR was its allies' main supplier. Andropov's main goal was to avoid an open war. In foreign policy, the conflict in Afghanistan continued even though Andropov, who now felt the invasion was a mistake, half-heartedly explored options for a negotiated withdrawal. Andropov's rule was also marked by deterioration of relations with the United States . During a much-publicized "walk in the woods" with Soviet dignitary Yuli Kvitsinsky, American diplomat Paul Nitze suggested
7366-423: The USSR's top spot, and served even less time in office (13 months). Like Andropov, Chernenko spent much of his time hospitalized, and also died in office, in March 1985. Chernenko was succeeded by Mikhail Gorbachev , who implemented perestroika and glasnost policies to reform the Soviet Union politically and economically. On 26 December 1991, the USSR was dissolved . Andropov lived at 26 Kutuzovsky Prospekt ,
7493-471: The United Nations. Aliyev attended the 49th session of the UN General Assembly (UN GA) in 1994 and the special session of UN GA dedicated to 50th anniversary of United Nations in October 1995. He received former Secretary General of UN Boutros Boutros-Ghali in October 1994 in Baku. Aliyev met with Secretary General Kofi Annan during his trip to the US in 1997 July. Aliyev addressed the Millennium Summit of UN held in September 2000, where he talked about
7620-418: The United States are important as we need to learn the Western democracy, culture, achievements, to benefit from them, to use and apply them in Azerbaijan. In this regard, the United States is a special country for us." Relations between the two countries strengthened after oil contracts were signed. Aliyev paid his first official visit to the US and met with President Bill Clinton on 1 August 1997. They signed
7747-663: The YCL of the Rybinsk Water Transport Technical School and was soon promoted to organizer of the YCL Central Committee at the Volodarsky Shipyards in Rybinsk. In 1938, he was elected First Secretary of the Yaroslavl Regional Committee of the YCL and was First Secretary of the Central Committee of Komsomol in the Soviet Karelo-Finnish Republic from 1940 to 1944. According to his official biography, during World War II Andropov took part in partisan guerrilla activities in Finland although modern researchers have found no trace of his supposed squad. From 1944 onward, he left Komsomol for Communist Party work. Between 1946 and 1951, he studied at
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#17327869890747874-458: The agreement after returning to Azerbaijan. The Key West negotiations were the last major negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during Aliyev's presidency. Aliyev assembled the Constitutional Commission in June 1995 to create a constitution to replace the 1978 Azerbaijan SSR Constitution. The first draft was ready in October for public debate and the final version consisted of 5 chapters, 12 sections and 147 articles. The new constitution
8001-400: The ashes thrown into the Biederitz River , a tributary of the nearby Elbe . No proof exists that the Russians ever found Adolf Hitler 's body, but it is presumed that Hitler and Eva Braun were among the remains as 10 or 11 bodies were exhumed. Andropov gained additional powers in 1973 when he was promoted to full member of the Politburo . During the Prague Spring in 1968, Andropov was
8128-426: The assassination of Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin 's seizure of power. He became convinced that the CIA had recruited Amin to create a pro-Western expansionist " New Great Ottoman Empire " that would attempt to dominate Soviet Central Asia . Andropov's bottom line, "under no circumstances can we lose Afghanistan", led him and the Politburo to invade Afghanistan on 24 December 1979. The invasion led to
8255-408: The badly damaged image of Soviet rulers in the West. Despite Andropov's hard-line stance in Hungary and the numerous banishments and intrigues for which he was responsible as head of the KGB, many commentators regard him as a reformer, especially in comparison with the stagnation and corruption of Brezhnev's later years. A "throwback to a tradition of Leninist asceticism", Andropov was appalled by
8382-493: The complex possibilities underlying the motivations of anti-corruption campaigning in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and early 1980s: it is true that Andropov fought corruption for moral, ethical, ascetic, and ideological reasons, but it was also an effective way for party members from the police and security organizations to defeat competitors for power at the party's senior levels. Thus Andropov himself, as well as such protégés as Eduard Shevardnadze , could advance their power by
8509-460: The continuing conflict regarding Nagorno-Karabakh . Almost immediately after this public appearance, Aliyev left Moscow for his native Nakhchivan . There, Aliyev reinvented himself as a moderate nationalist. He was elected the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR in Baku in October 1990. Under the pressure and criticism from groups connected to his nemesis, the leader of Soviet Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutallibov , Aliyev again returned to Nakhchivan, where he
8636-411: The corruption of Brezhnev's regime, and ordered investigations and arrests of the most flagrant abusers. The investigations were so frightening that several members of Brezhnev's circle "shot, gassed or otherwise did away with themselves." He was generally regarded as inclined to more gradual and constructive reform than was Gorbachev; most of the speculation centers on whether Andropov would have reformed
8763-554: The death penalty on 3 February 1998. Milli Majlis approved the draft law on 10 February 1998. As a result, capital punishment was replaced with life imprisonment. Azerbaijan joined the "Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , aiming at the abolition of the death penalty" on 22 January 1999. Agrarian reforms implemented during the Aliyev administration can be divided into 2 phases: During Aliyev's presidency, Azerbaijan began actively participating within international organizations such as
8890-472: The dissident movement went into decline, not on its own but because it was strangled. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, repression was most severe; many people were arrested a second time and sentenced to longer terms. The camp regime was not strict but specific, and when Andropov became General Secretary , he introduced an Article under which violations of camp regime resulted in a punishment cell and an additional term up to three years. For two or three remarks
9017-519: The extended Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) and a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow by 66 countries, something of concern to Andropov since spring 1979. Some have proposed that the Soviet–Afghan War also played an important role in the Soviet Union's dissolution . On 10 December 1981, in the face of Poland's Solidarity movement , Andropov, Soviet Second Secretary Mikhail Suslov , and Polish First Secretary Wojciech Jaruzelski persuaded Brezhnev that it would be counterproductive for
9144-712: The final status of Nagorno-Karabakh in subsequent phases; the proposal was never realized as Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan failed to win support for it from his own government and was forced to resign in February 1998. Aliyev participated in bilateral talks with the new president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, in spring 1999 and again in January 2001. Further, more substantial talks were held in Key West , Florida with American mediation in April 2001. The proposals negotiated at Key West have never been published, although it
9271-425: The fore a new generation of young reformers as energetic as himself, including Yegor Ligachyov , Nikolai Ryzhkov , and, most importantly, Mikhail Gorbachev . Upon suffering kidney failure in February 1983, Andropov's health began to deteriorate rapidly. He died aged 69 on 9 February 1984, having led the country for about 15 months. There has been much contention over Andropov's family background. According to
9398-527: The form of "the highest degree of self-rule within Azerbaijan". Aliyev reportedly agreed to a "phased solution" to the conflict proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs in September 1997, which envisioned the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh (besides the Lachin District ) and the deployment of international peacekeepers, followed by negotiations on
9525-642: The infamous anti-German pogrom in Moscow and killed, although Andropov characterized the pogrom as anti-Jewish . The whole family could have been turned into lishentsy and stripped of basic rights had she not abandoned the store after another pogrom in 1917, invented a proletarian background, and left Moscow for the Stavropol Governorate along with Andropov's mother. Andropov gave different versions of his father's fate: in one, he divorced his mother soon after his birth; in another he died of illness. The "father" in question, Vladimir Andropov,
9652-482: The leadership of Leonid Brezhnev , he was appointed chairman of the KGB on 10 May 1967. After Brezhnev suffered a stroke in 1975 that significantly impaired his ability to govern, Andropov began to increasingly dictate Soviet policymaking alongside Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko , Defense Minister Andrei Grechko and Grechko's successor, Marshal Dmitry Ustinov . Upon Brezhnev's death on 10 November 1982, Andropov succeeded him as General Secretary and, by extension, as
9779-464: The main advocate of taking "extreme measures" against Czechoslovakia . According to classified information released by Vasili Mitrokhin , the "KGB whipped up the fear that Czechoslovakia could fall victim to NATO aggression or to a coup". At this time, agent Oleg Kalugin reported from Washington that he had gained access to "absolutely reliable documents proving that neither the CIA nor any other agency
9906-505: The measures of the program of cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Republic of Azerbaijan” (8 July 1996), "On the measures of Deepening Cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Republic of Azerbaijan" (20 January 1998), and “On the measures of expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and CoE for defending interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Council of Europe" (14 May 1999) were adopted by Aliyev. Aliyev prioritized establishing warmer relations with Russia more than
10033-467: The office of First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and made him a full member of the Politburo. Aliyev also served at the Council of Ministers as the first deputy chairman in 1974–1979. Aliyev supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. At the 1981 Party Congress, Aliyev praised Brezhnev profusely. On 22 November 1982, Andropov promoted Aliyev from a candidate to
10160-560: The official biography, Andropov was born in Stanitsa Nagutskaya (modern-day Stavropol Krai , Russia) on 15 June 1914. His father, Vladimir Konstantinovich Andropov, was a railway worker of Don Cossack descent who died of typhus in 1919. His mother, Yevgenia Karlovna Fleckenstein (none of the official sources mention her name), was a school teacher who died in 1931. She was born in the Ryazan Governorate into
10287-634: The official government in Baku. The attempt by the Popular Front's Minister of Interior Isgandar Hamidov to forcibly overthrow Aliyev in Nakhchivan was thwarted by local militia at the regional airport. During the same period, Aliyev independently negotiated a cease-fire agreement in Nakhchivan with the then-President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan . Aliyev was elected as the leader of New Azerbaijan Party at its constituent congress organized in Nakhchivan on 21 November 1992. In 1993, Elchibey
10414-441: The order "On the tasks of State security agencies in combating the ideological sabotage by the adversary", calling for struggle against dissidents and their imperialist masters. After the assassination attempt against Brezhnev in January 1969, Andropov led the interrogation of the captured gunman, Viktor Ivanovich Ilyin . Ilyin was pronounced insane and sent to Kazan Psychiatric Hospital. On 29 April 1969, Andropov submitted to
10541-430: The pipeline is $ 3.14 (2016), out of which Georgia gets a $ 1.2 share and Azerbaijan gets the rest. Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( Azerbaijani : Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev (Latin), Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев (Cyrillic), IPA: [hejˈdæɾ æliɾˈzɑ oɣˈlu æˈlijef] ; Russian: Гейда́р Али́евич Али́ев , IPA: [ɡʲɪjˈdar ɐˈlʲijɪvʲɪtɕ ɐˈlʲijɪf] ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003)
10668-535: The pipeline might need to be diverted in the future, a Vice President of SOCAR reportedly denied any short term need for such concern. In June 2022, BP rerouted oil from the pipeline to the much bigger Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline due to security concerns. Essentially, the Baku–Supsa pipeline is a refurbished Soviet era pipeline with several newly built sections. It has six pumping stations and two pressure reduction stations in western Georgia. The four storage tanks at
10795-418: The power to measure it and monitor its details. In such an environment, anti-corruption campaigning is a way for police and security people to appear to be cleaning up villains' malfeasance and coincidentally increasing their own power, when in fact one set of antiheroes may be defeating another set in a morally gray power struggle. Andropov faced a series of foreign policy crises: the hopeless situation of
10922-445: The previous leadership of Azerbaijan did. He stated in his speech at Milli Majlis on 15 June 1993, after being elected as the head of Parliament of Azerbaijan: "Russia, our northern neighbor, is absolutely a vast state. Undoubtedly, the relation based on independent principles between Azerbaijan and Russia must be better, broader and more fruitful." The Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between Russia and Azerbaijan
11049-567: The propaganda system was useful only for people and states aligned with the Soviet Union. Both crises were escalated by technological and organizational failures, compounded by human error. In February 1983, Andropov suffered total kidney failure . In August 1983, he entered Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital , where he would spend the rest of his life. In late January 1984, Andropov's health deteriorated rapidly. Due to growing toxicity in his blood , he had periods of falling into unconsciousness. He died on 9 February 1984 at 16:50, aged 69. Few of
11176-411: The public and open to criticism. Furthermore, Andropov gave select industries greater autonomy from state regulations and enabled factory managers to retain control over more of their profits. Such policies resulted in a 4% rise in industrial output and increased investment in new technologies such as robotics. Despite such reforms, Andropov refused to consider any changes that sought to dispense with
11303-571: The same building in which Suslov and Brezhnev lived. Tatyana and Andropov had two children, Igor and Irina. Igor joined the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as ambassador to Greece. Andropov's legacy remains the subject of much debate in Russia and elsewhere among scholars and in the popular media. He remains the focus of television documentaries and popular nonfiction, particularly at important anniversaries. As KGB head, Andropov
11430-503: The same efforts that also promised to be better for the country in terms of justice, economic performance, and even defense readiness (which depended on economic performance). Part of the complexity is that in the Brezhnev era, corruption was pervasive and implicitly tolerated (though officially denied), and many a member of the police and security organizations participated in it to various degrees, but only those organizations had access to
11557-422: The southwest of Azerbaijan without meeting significant resistance, leading to the displacement of around 350,000 people. After taking the office of president, Aliyev disbanded units loyal to the ousted Azerbaijani Popular Front and ordered the creation of a new national army. Tens of thousands of young men with no fighting experience were conscripted to this end. At the same time, Aliyev conducted negotiations with
11684-624: The top Soviet leaders learned of his death on that day. According to the Soviet post-mortem medical report, Andropov suffered from several medical conditions: interstitial nephritis , nephrosclerosis , residual hypertension and diabetes , worsened by chronic kidney deficiency. A four-day period of mourning across the USSR was announced. Syria declared seven days of mourning; Cuba declared four days of mourning; India declared three days of mourning; Bulgaria , North Korea and Zimbabwe declared two days of mourning; Czechoslovakia and Costa Rica declared one day of mourning. Andropov had
11811-405: The two had fallen out over Gorbachev's anti-corruption campaign. Aliyev had fallen out with Gorbachev and was one of the gold guard cleared out as part of Gorbachev's Perestroika . After his forced retirement in 1987, Aliyev remained in Moscow until 1990. He suffered a heart attack during this time. Aliyev publicly opposed the January 1990 Soviet military crackdown in Baku , which had followed
11938-542: The university of Petrozavodsk. In 1947, he was elected Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Karelo-Finnish SSR . In 1951, Andropov was transferred to the CPSU Central Committee . He was appointed an inspector and then the head of a subdepartment of the committee. In July 1954, Andropov was appointed Ambassador to Hungary. He held this position during
12065-572: The windows of his embassy as officers of the hated Hungarian security service [the Államvédelmi Hatóság (AVH)] were strung up from lampposts. Andropov remained haunted for the rest of his life by the speed with which an apparently all-powerful Communist one-party state had begun to topple. When other Communist regimes later seemed at risk – in Prague in 1968 , in Kabul in 1979 , in Warsaw in 1981 , he
12192-399: The winter of 1993–1994, Azerbaijani forces attempted to recapture territories on different parts of the frontline. While Azerbaijani forces managed to recapture part of Fuzuli District , the operation to retake Kalbajar District was a disastrous failure, with thousands of Azerbaijani soldiers killed or frozen to death in the mountains north of Kalbajar. In May 1994, with Aliyev's approval,
12319-471: The work of the Politburo, supervising national defense, supervising the main issues of domestic and foreign policy and foreign trade, and making leadership assignments in the top ranks of the party and the government. Chernenko handled espionage, KGB, the Interior Ministry, party organs, ideology, organizational matters, propaganda, culture, science, and higher education. He was also given charge of
12446-759: The “Agreement on the Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri and Chirag Fields and the Deep Water Portion of the Gunashli Field in the Azerbaijan Sector of the Caspian Sea ” was signed in Baku on 20 September 1994 by the Government of Azerbaijan and a consortium of 11 oil companies from 6 countries (US, UK, Russia, Norway , Turkey , Saudi Arabia ) in the presence of Aliyev. The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan
12573-473: Was "consistent with our obligations under the ABM Treaty ". Andropov dismissed this claim, saying, "It is time they [Washington] stopped ... search[ing] for the best ways of unleashing nuclear war . ... Engaging in this is not just irresponsible. It is insane". In August 1983, Andropov made an announcement that the USSR would stop all work on space-based weapons . One of his most notable acts as leader of
12700-407: Was a Soviet politician who was the sixth leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , taking office in late 1982 and serving until his death in 1984. Earlier in his career, Andropov served as the Soviet ambassador to Hungary from 1954 to 1957. During this period, he took part in the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising . Later under
12827-435: Was a part of a wide-ranging imperialist plot to undermine the foundation of the Soviet state". To this end, he launched a campaign to eliminate all opposition in the USSR through a mixture of mass arrests, involuntary commitments to psychiatric hospitals, and pressure on rights activists to emigrate. These measures were meticulously documented throughout his time as KGB chairman by the underground Chronicle of Current Events ,
12954-469: Was actually born 2 years earlier in Comardlı, but that it was later decided that a senior Azerbaijani politician should not have an Armenian place of birth. His father was from Comardlı and his mother was from Vorotan (also in modern-day Syunik Province of Armenia). Aliyev had four brothers: Hasan , Huseyn , Jalal , and Agil, as well as three sisters: Sura, Shafiga and Rafiga. After graduating from
13081-502: Was adopted on 24 October 2002 by the US Senate to allow a US president to temporarily waive Section 907, which used to forbid to export any financial or humanitarian support to Azerbaijan. Aliyev used the oil potential of Azerbaijan to avoid the difficulties his country faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union by attracting foreign investment into Azerbaijan. After a year-long series of negotiations in Baku, Istanbul and Houston ,
13208-614: Was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003. He was a high-ranking official in the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR , serving for 28 years in Soviet state security organs (1941–1969). He governed Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 as First Secretary of
13335-688: Was awarded to Kværner . The pipeline was completed in 1998. On 17 April 1999, the inauguration ceremony of the Supsa Oil Terminal took place. The total costs of the construction of the pipeline and terminal were US$ 556 million. The oil transportation by the pipeline was stopped on 21 October 2006 after abnormalities were revealed during the inspections on the pipeline. The large scale repair and replacement included replacement and re-routing of pipeline sections near Zestaponi in Georgia and Kura River crossing in Azerbaijan. Also several defects of
13462-575: Was behind the deaths of Fyodor Kulakov and Pyotr Masherov , the two youngest members of the Soviet leadership. A declassified document revealed that as KGB director, Andropov gave the order to prevent unauthorized gatherings mourning John Lennon . Beginning in January 1972, Andropov led the implementation of the Soviet détente strategy. In 1977, Andropov convinced Brezhnev that the Ipatiev House , where Tsar Nicholas II and his family were murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries during
13589-434: Was born in Moscow, where his mother worked at a women's gymnasium from 1913 to 1917. On various occasions, Andropov gave different death dates for his mother: 1927, 1929, 1930 and 1931. The story of her adoption was also likely a mystification. In 1937, Andropov was vetted when he applied for Communist Party membership, and it turned out that "the sister of his native maternal grandmother" (whom he called his aunt), who
13716-593: Was confirmed by a referendum held on 12 November 1995. To ensure separation of power, the constitution created 3 divisions: legislative ( Milli Majlis ), executive (President) and judicial (courts). Aliyev suggested amendments to the Constitution of Azerbaijan in June 2002. The first amendment to the Constitution of Azerbaijan was approved as the result of the 2002 Azerbaijani constitutional referendum , which
13843-758: Was convinced that, as in Budapest in 1956, only armed force could ensure their survival". In 1957, Andropov returned to Moscow from Budapest in order to head the Department for Liaison with Communist and Workers' Parties in Socialist Countries, a position he held until 1967. In 1961, he was elected full member of the CPSU Central Committee and was promoted to the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee in 1962. In 1967, he
13970-575: Was elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with 98.8 percent of the vote. On 11 October 1998, he was re-elected, winning 77 percent of the vote. Aliyev was nominated as a candidate in the 2003 presidential elections , but declined to run in the elections in connection with health problems. When Aliyev became chairman of the Supreme Soviet in June 1993, Azerbaijan was suffering from internal division and military collapse, which allowed Armenian forces to capture most of five districts in
14097-402: Was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Nakhchivan in 1991. He resigned that same year from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. By December 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved and Azerbaijan formally became an independent state, Aliyev independently governed Nakhchivan in spite of Mutallibov's presidency. Early 1992 saw increased violence in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War following
14224-593: Was elected president in a fraudulent election and continues to lead Azerbaijan to this day. According to both his official biography and the Great Soviet Encyclopedia , Aliyev was born on 10 May 1923 in the city of Nakhchivan . His family had moved to Nakhchivan before his birth from the village of Comardlı (modern-day Tanahat in the Syunik Province of Armenia), located only a few miles from Nakhchivan. Some sources claim that Aliyev
14351-523: Was established by Presidential Decree in December 1999 to gather the income gained from oil profit with the aim of financing social and economic projects. As a result of the oil strategy developed by Aliyev, Azerbaijani oil was planned to be carried through different routes as Baku–Supsa , Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), etc. In order to export Azerbaijani oil to the European market, the presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey agreed to construct
14478-538: Was implemented. As head of the KGB, Andropov was in charge of the widespread deployment of psychiatric repression. According to Yuri Felshtinsky and Boris Gulko , Andropov and the head of the Fifth Directorate, Filipp Bobkov , originated the idea to use psychiatry for punitive purposes. The repression of dissidents was a big part of Andropov's agenda and targeted such prominent figures as Andrei Sakharov and Roy Medvedev . Some believe that Andropov
14605-625: Was in fact his stepfather, who lived and worked in Nagutskaya and died of typhus in 1919. The Fyodorov surname belonged to his second stepfather, Viktor Fyodorov, a machinist's assistant turned schoolteacher. Andropov's biological father is unknown; he probably died in 1916, a date in Andropov's 1932 résumé. During the 1937 vetting, it was reported that his father served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army . Andropov joined
14732-411: Was living with him and who supported the legend of his Ryazan peasant origins, was in fact his nurse, who had been working for Fleckenstein long before Andropov was born. It was also reported that Andropov's mother came from a line of merchants . Karl Fleckenstein was the rich proprietor of a jewellery business which was run by his wife after his death in 1915 when he was mistaken for a German during
14859-578: Was manipulating the Czechoslovak reform movement". His message was destroyed because it contradicted the conspiracy theory Andropov had fabricated. Andropov ordered a number of active measures , collectively known as operation PROGRESS, against Czechoslovak reformers during the Normalization period. Throughout his career, Andropov aimed to achieve "the destruction of dissent in all its forms" and insisted that "the struggle for human rights
14986-602: Was married by fraud. Consequently, 39 amendments to 23 articles of the Constitution of Azerbaijan were made. These included the abolition of proportional party-list elections to Parliament, a change in the presidential line of succession to favor the Prime Minister instead of the Chairman of Milli Majlis, the favoring of a simple majority when calculating presidential election results, and the establishment of rights for citizens, courts and ombudsmen to appeal directly to
15113-400: Was married. The novel also depicts Andropov as a fan of Marlboros and starka vodka, almost never available to ordinary Soviet citizens. In a message read at the opening of a new exhibition dedicated to Andropov, Vladimir Putin called him "a man of talent with great abilities." Putin has praised Andropov's "honesty and uprightness". According to Russian historian Nikita Petrov , "He was
15240-403: Was ousted from power in a Russia-backed military coup led by Surat Huseynov , a military commander that Elchibey had fired. Aliyev was installed as President, and Aliyev in turn appointed Huseynov as prime minister. According to historian Audrey Altsadt and Thomas de Waal , Aliyev did not appear to have a direct role in the coup. In August 1993, Elchibey was stripped of his presidency by
15367-520: Was personally responsible for orchestrating the arrest and persecution of Soviet Jewish activist Natan Sharansky . In March 1979, Andropov and the Politburo initially opposed military intervention in Afghanistan. Among their concerns were that the international community would blame the USSR for its "aggression" and that the upcoming SALT II negotiation meeting with U.S. President Jimmy Carter would be derailed. Andropov changed his mind after
15494-592: Was realized in October 1997. Establishment of the alternative Baku–Supsa route was agreed on 8 March 1996 by Aliyev and Shevardnadze. The Baku–Supsa route began operation in April 1999. Aliyev's health began to fail in 1999 when he had a major heart bypass operation in the United States at the Cleveland Clinic . He later had prostate surgery and a hernia operation. He collapsed while giving
15621-520: Was relieved of his work in the Central Committee apparatus and appointed head of the KGB on Mikhail Suslov 's recommendation and promoted to candidate member of the Politburo. In 1970, out of concern that the burial place of Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their children would become a shrine to neo-Nazis , Andropov authorized an operation to destroy the remains that were buried in Magdeburg in 1946. The remains were thoroughly burned and crushed, and
15748-471: Was ruthless against dissent, and author David Remnick , who covered the Soviet Union for The Washington Post in the 1980s, called him "profoundly corrupt, a beast". Alexander Yakovlev , later an advisor to Gorbachev and the ideologist of perestroika , said: "In a way I always thought Andropov was the most dangerous of all of them, simply because he was smarter than the rest." But Andropov himself recalled Yakovlev back to high office in Moscow in 1983 after
15875-489: Was selective in his anti-corruption campaign, as he targeted those that refused to cooperate with him but rewarding and elevating those that did. Aliyev frequently treated Brezhnev with lavish gifts. The gifts include a ‘Sun-king’ diamond ring worth 226,000 roubles and a jewel-encrusted framed portrait to Brezhnev. Aliyev built a palace for Brezhnev's personal use for his official visit in 1982. He promoted individuals from his native Nakhichevan to leadership positions in
16002-609: Was signed on 3 July 1997. Aliyev paid his first official trip to Russia as a President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in July 1997 with the invitation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin . Relations with Russia further developed through Aliyev-Putin negotiations during their bilateral visits ( Vladimir Putin visited Azerbaijan in 2001 and Aliyev paid a reciprocal visit to Russia in 2002). The agreements on "The Status and Benefiting Principles of Gabala Radio Location Station", "Long term economic cooperation agreement between Russian Federation and
16129-406: Was unprepared to deal with a civilian airliner, and the shooting down was a matter of following orders without question. Instead of admitting an accident, Soviet media proclaimed a brave decision to meet a Western provocation. Together with the low credibility created by the poor explanation of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster , the episode demonstrated an inability to deal with public relations crises;
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