Azerbaijan's Aliyev orders removal of presidential portraits

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AFP) — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has ordered that ubiquitous portraits of him on display across the country be taken down ahead of a presidential election in October, a senior aide said Tuesday.

Aliyev's likeness appears on hundreds of billboards and posters across the ex-Soviet republic, often accompanied by his late father Heydar, who Aliyev replaced as president in 2003.

Aliyev issued the order at a meeting of cabinet ministers, saying "he wants people to remember him because of his actions, not for his pictures," Ali Hasanov, the head of the presidential political department, told AFP.

Hasanov said the move was also about respecting election laws ahead of the October 15 vote.

"The president will be one of other...