Artur Rasizade Politician

Artur Tahir oğlu Rasizadeh (Azerbaijani: Artur Tahir oğlu Rasi-zadə), often spelled as Artur Rasizade (born 26 February 1935 in Ganja), is the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan. Rasizade was a long-time Communist Party member during the Azerbaijan SSR period. He was Prime Minister from July 20, 1996 until August 4, 2003, when he resigned, ostensibly due to health reasons, enabling President Heydar Aliyev's son Ilham Aliyev to assume the office. Rasizade continued to act as Prime Minister for Ilham Aliyev, however, and he formally returned to the post on November 4, after Ilham Aliyev was elected as president.