On the occasion of his birthday Ilham Aliyev received the title of “Friend of Azerbaijani Students” and before that “Friend of Azerbaijani Journalists”. Very soon he will be the best friend of athletes, pupils, hairdressers... This used to be a practice in the post-Soviet territory 70 years ago, and we all know what results it produced.

Probably all dictators of any rank like “to be worshiped and revered” by their people, and they simply cannot imagine their existence without it. It doesn’t matter that you’re ridiculed in the whole world; what matters is that you have hydrocarbons, which with the help of the U.S. exaggeratedly turned into a measure of democracy. Fantasy of the Azerbaijani nation, or rather, that of its loyal part, knows no boundaries. On the occasion of Aliyev’s birthday, municipal authorities and businessmen in Ganca baked him a 49-meter long cake, 12 tons in weight. And this despite the fact that 78% of the population of Azerbaijan is unable to pay their housing rents.

As for the hero of the day, there was nothing special about him: speaking at the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Istanbul, he once again retold the dull story of 20% of occupied territories and one million refugees. And it must be publicized who he must thank for the defeat in the Karabakh war. Of course, the Armenian army is better and stronger so that even Turkey admits it, however, but for the cowardice of Aliyev Sr. and his commanders Azerbaijan might have lost not 20 but 15 territories, although in fact the security zone of the NKR is 13% of the territory of the former Azerbaijani SSR.

Aliyev would have betrayed himself if he had not reminded about oil and gas. “Today there are seven oil and gas pipelines that carry crude from our country to world markets,” he said. Of course, he is right. But what happens to the money from the sale of oil and gas if the population gets crumbs, at best? Anyway, it’s not our business; it’s his people, and let them live as they like.

In his speech in Istanbul Aliyev very frequently repeated the word “brother” - both in addressing President Gul and President Ahmadinejad. How this “brotherhood” will end is still very difficult to understand: they are too different, and the situation in the region is changing very quickly. The most important point is that “brothers” are not chosen for life, like it was the case with Ilham Aliyev. After all, no one doubts that he will rule Azerbaijan for a long time, just like President Nursultan Nazarbayev, another “brother”. It’s almost impossible to remove Aliyev, unless it happens after another defeat to be suffered in Karabakh war. The saying “Every nation has the government it deserves” is as valid for all the states as it is for the Aliyev clan. And it sounds very funny when they say that people are not guilty. After all, nobody forces to sing praises either to Heydar or to Ilham. It’s simply the defect of nomads to kiss the killer’s hand. It’s exactly what we see by the brilliant example of Azerbaijan, which, as always, “is walking tall”. One is just scared to think of what will happen in Baku next year, when Aliyev turns 50...