“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2026
2026
2026-01-22
As part of the official Azerbaijani delegation that traveled to Switzerland to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos, the son of President Aliyev, Heydar Aliyev Jr., is also included. He does not hold any official position in the government of Azerbaijan. Social media posts by Mehriban Aliyeva, who is accompanying her husband in Switzerland, show that the Aliyevs’ elder daughter, Leyla Aliyeva, is also in Davos.
The participation of Heydar Aliyev Jr., who holds no public office, in international official meetings has sparked heated discussions on Azerbaijani social media. He was present at Ilham Aliyev’s meetings with André Esteves, Chairman of the Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual; Morten Dyrholm, Senior Vice President for Marketing, Communications, Sustainability, and Public Affairs at Vestas Wind Systems; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators; as well as Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar.
Photos published on social media and in the media show that Heydar Aliyev Jr. is presented as a representative of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). However, no official source provides any information about his employment or professional activity in the company. It is noteworthy that Ilham Aliyev himself also worked at SOCAR between 1994 and 2003, serving as first vice president.
According to some Azerbaijani political analysts, the recent participation of Heydar Aliyev Jr. in official events and meetings indicates that he may be a potential successor to Ilham Aliyev. In their view, Heydar Aliyev Jr. could assume a more active role in the political sphere and the system of state governance in the future. The analysts do not rule out that his participation in international meetings may be a “preparatory phase” for a political career.
This is not the first time Heydar Aliyev Jr. has attended official meetings alongside his father. As early as January 9, 2024, he participated in an official luncheon hosted by the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, where he was seated at the table with Azerbaijan’s foreign minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Hikmet Hajiyev, head of the foreign policy department of the presidential administration. It was after this luncheon that discussions began suggesting Ilham Aliyev was preparing his son for active political career.
In Azerbaijan, the economic policy meeting held on September 26, 2024 also sparked intense public debate. During the meeting, Heydar Aliyev Jr. was seated next to his mother, First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva. According to the state protocol, at official meetings the prime minister and his deputies sit to the president’s left, while vice presidents are seated to the right. This raises the question: why was Heydar Aliyev Jr. seated in the chair of the second vice president?
Recently, Heydar Aliyev Jr.’s wife, Alyona Aliyeva, has also been appearing frequently in public and is currently in Davos as well. These days, she is taking part in various events and foreign visits alongside Mehriban Aliyeva and the Aliyev daughters, Arzu and Leyla. For example, during Mehriban Aliyeva’s official visit to Vatican on October 17, 2025, Alyona Aliyeva met with Pope Leo XIV.
By making his son a public figure and involving him in high-level official meetings, Ilham Aliyev is giving Heydar Aliyev Jr.—as a potential clan successor to the presidency—the opportunity to gain political experience, understand how the state governance system operates, build contacts with international political and business circles, and observe foreign policy processes firsthand. In effect, the same scenario is being replayed that was once engineered by Heydar Aliyev Sr. to bring Azerbaijan’s current president to power in 2003.