After coming to power in 1993, Heydar Aliyev stopped the war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, secured Azerbaijan’s existence as a sovereign state, and, as the oil-and-gas sector flourished, oversaw the country’s growing international authority. The transfer of power from father to son took place peacefully, and Ilham’s administration has presided over completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline – to the annoyance of Russia and Armenia.
但这样形容阿塞拜疆政府实在欠妥。1993年执政以来，伊尔哈姆·阿利耶夫终止了和亚美尼亚的纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫飞地之争，实现了阿塞拜疆的主权独立。随着石油天然气工业日渐繁盛，在伊尔哈姆管理下阿塞拜疆的国际权威也日益增长。父子之间的权力过渡和平而宁静，伊尔哈姆政府还主持了巴库－第比利斯－杰伊汉油管的修建－这一举措使俄罗斯和亚美尼亚人大为光火。