On December 24, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev celebrated his 48th birthday anniversary. The young leader took up the reins of government after his father’s death. Even before Heydar Aliyev’s body was committed to the earth, the world powerhouses were pushing the oil barrel under his son Ilham, promoting him to the post of Premier and, later, turning him into a new unchallenged leader.

Well, an 11-ton birthday cake was baked on the occasion. “The super-cake has been brought to the central square after the national leader Heydar Aliyev. The celebrations were attended by over 30,000 citizens. The cake is 48 meters long. A total of 3.5 tons of flour, three tons of sugar, 500 kg of butter, 35,000 eggs and 500 kg of nuts have been used. The center of Baku is decorated on the occasion of Ilham Aliyev’s 48th birthday anniversary, and pictures of architectural monuments and sights of Gyanja can be seen,” the “free” Azeri press is happy to report.

Congratulating Mr. Aliyev on his birthday, we would like to quote a couple of letters put on the official website of the Azerbaijani leader. So what do the happy fellow citizens write to their President — the political genius and young leader of Azerbaijan — without being afraid of presenting their brilliant ideas to him?

The communications worker Heybar Samedov writes: “Our dear President! A consistent policy pursued by our national leader Heydar Aliyev laid the foundations of communication in Azerbaijan. We are living witnesses to those historic moments, who were involved in the development processes with the great leader at the head of us. At present you are continuing the great leader’s policy with success and credit. Our country is prospering day after day, showing larger-scale trends to economic progress. The communication and IT sector is contributing to this progress…” The letter bears 56 signatures.

Vagif Guseinov, Director of the Agjabedin teachers' training college, writes: “Our independent state has always highlighted educational development and upbringing of the young generation. Education is the nation’s future, the national leader Heydar Aliyev would say. You are successfully continuing his policy in this field, paying much attention to educational development…”

Lovers of the writing style of the Brezhnev era can “enjoy” reading other letters addressed to the Azeri leader. We, for our part, while wiping away tears rolling down our cheeks, congratulate Ilham the son of Heydar on his birthday anniversary and wish him much strength and energy in developing democracy in Azerbaijan!

T.P.