Editing Heydar Aliyev (section)

== Career in Moscow ==
Aliyev became a candidate (non-voting) member of the Soviet [[Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee|Politburo]] in 1976. He held this position until December 1982, when [[Yuri Andropov]] promoted him to the office of [[First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union|First Deputy Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union|USSR Council of Ministers]] and made him a full member of the Politburo.<ref name="mafia">{{cite book |last=Perkin |first=Harold James |url=https://archive.org/details/thirdrevolution00prof/page/204 |title=The Third Revolution: Professional Elites in the Modern World |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=0415143373 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/thirdrevolution00prof/page/204 204] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=":0">Alexander Hopkins McDannald. ''The Americana Annual: An Encyclopedia of Current Events'', Americana Corporation, 1983, p. 524</ref> Aliyev also served at the Council of Ministers as the first deputy chairman in 1974–1979.<ref name=":1" /> 

Aliyev supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.<ref name=":21">{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Paul |date=2003-12-13 |title=H.A. Aliyev, K.G.B. Officer And Azeri Leader, 80, Dies |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/13/world/ha-aliyev-kgb-officer-and-azeri-leader-80-dies.html |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> At the 1981 Party Congress, Aliyev praised Brezhnev profusely.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Taubman |first1=Philip |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1986-02-28 |title=A SOVIET LEADER IN A WIDE-RANGING NEWS SESSION |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/28/world/a-soviet-leader-in-a-wide-ranging-news-session.html |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On 22 November 1982, Andropov promoted Aliyev from a candidate to a full member of the Soviet Politburo<ref name=":0" /> and appointed him to the post of [[First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union|First Deputy Chairman]] of the Council of Ministers of the USSR,<ref>Martin McCauley. ''Who's Who in Russia Since 1900'', Routledge, 1997, {{ISBN|0-415-13898-1}}, p. 13</ref> responsible for transportation and social services. Aliyev thus attained the highest position ever reached by an Azerbaijani in the Soviet Union.<ref name="East2002">Roger East, Richard Thomas, Alan John Day. ''A Political and Economic Dictionary of Eastern Europe'', Routledge, 2002, {{ISBN|1-85743-063-8}}, p. 34</ref>

Aliyev was dismissed from his position as First Deputy Premier and from the Politburo by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] in 1987, officially on health grounds,<ref name="East2002" /><ref name=":13" /> but the two had fallen out over Gorbachev's anti-corruption campaign.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ray |first=Don |title=Forged in fire: the making of an investigative reporter - Corruptistan |url=https://www.occrp.org/en/corruptistan/azerbaijan/2015/06/24/the-making-of-an-investigative-reporter.en.html |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=OCCRP |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /> Aliyev had fallen out with Gorbachev and was one of the gold guard cleared out as part of Gorbachev's [[Perestroika]].<ref name=":22" />