Washington Post: President Aliyev of Azerbaijan buys expensive real estate in Dubai, in the name of his 11-year-old son

Deal to buy expensive real estate in Dubai to raise questions to the president of Azerbaijan, says InoPressa.ru, referring to the allegations of the newspaper The Washington Post. She found that “at the beginning of last year for just a few weeks 11-year-old boy from Azerbaijan became the owner of nine houses on the shore. Generally, they cost about $ 44 million – 10 thousand times greater than the average annual salary of a citizen of Azerbaijan.”

Name and surname of the boy – Heydar Aliyev, as well as his date of birth, given in the Document for houses with the same name, surname and date of birth of his son, Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, the newspaper said.

“Baku officials declined to comment on how the presidents son – or, at least, the full and complete contemporary namesake, Azerbaijani students – was the owner of the mansion in the elite Palm Jumeirah complex, popular with British football stars and other multimillionaires “- the article says.

Salary Ilham Aliyevs presidency is 228 thousand dollars a year, which is not enough for the most modest house in Palm Jumeirah.

Transactions in Dubai exacerbate longstanding dilemma facing Washington: how to reconcile the interest in cooperation with Azerbaijan in energy security and the fact that the State Department last year called pervasive corruption Azerbaijani regime.

Dubai is also registered in the names of real estate Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva, the newspaper said, while President Aliyev has two daughters with the same names and roughly the same age. Three citizens of Azerbaijan, with the same first and last names as children president, own real estate in Dubai worth about $ 75 million.

Dubai realtors informed about some of these transactions, they said that the facilities were purchased by the buyer, representing Azerbaijans ruling clan, and paid in advance, the newspaper notes.

Aliyevs power provides a degree of stability and steady economic growth in Azerbaijan, but in the country, and impunity reigns bribery, the newspaper. Aliyev clan – the core of the system, as shown by last years trial in New York: American millionaire Frederick E. Burke Jr.. found guilty of violating the “Law on Foreign Corrupt Practice” on the basis of bribes which the defendant gave in Azerbaijan.

The case involved a failed attempt to purchase 1990 Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR, the leadership of which included the current President Ilham Aliyev. American businessman Thomas Farrell, testified in court that Heydar Aliyev, father of Ilham, ordered to transfer large sums of money to bank accounts managed for the benefit of relatives of Heydar, and send money to family members on shopping – usually a million dollars at a time.

The former head of SOCAR, Sabit Bagirov, in an interview expressed the view that it would be very unusual if Aliyevs register property in Dubai for their real names. “Maybe this is a provocation,” – he said, refraining from further clarification.