Leyla Aliyeva has been linked to several charitable foundations and youth organizations that are part of a sophisticated soft power project.
Chief among these is the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which funds cultural and development projects,[608] including the construction of schools, hospitals, and art galleries in Azerbaijan and abroad.[610] Some of its projects are in countries where Azerbaijan has signed or is negotiating lucrative deals to export oil and gas, including Georgia,[1303] [1304] [1311] Bosnia and Herzegovina,[1305] [1306] [1307] [1312] Romania,[1308] [1309] [1310] Bulgaria,[1313] [1314] [1315] [1316] Pakistan,[1317] [1318] [1319] India,[1320] [1321] and Vietnam.[1322] [1323] It has also financed cultural initiatives in Western European countries with strategic energy ties to Azerbaijan, including Italy,[1324] [1328] [1329] France,[1325] [1330] and Germany.[1326] [1327] [1331]
Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva is the foundation’s president,[609] and Leyla Aliyeva is its vice president.[607] Established in 2004,[609] the foundation has been accused of using cultural soft power to whitewash Azerbaijan’s reputation abroad.[602] [603] In particular, it has been accused of advancing Baku’s official line on Nagorno-Karabakh,[602] [604] the war-torn region in western Azerbaijan that was occupied by ethnic Armenians for several decades until Azerbaijan retook it in 2023, sparking a mass exodus.[605]
The Heydar Aliyev foundation does not declare the source of its funding, but it is widely assumed to be Azerbaijan’s oil revenues, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable.[604] There are also anecdotal reports of Azerbaijani officials being compelled to contribute to the foundation in exchange for political protection.[604] The foundation holds accounts at the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA),[611] a state-controlled bank that has featured in a high-profile embezzlement case and has been implicated in large and suspicious overseas transfers.[606] [576]
