Arzu Alieva

Arzu Ilham qizi Aliyeva (, born 23 January 1989) is an Azerbaijani public figure who is the younger daughter of Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan.

Aliyeva and her family have substantial wealth stashed in elaborate networks of offshore companies. She and her sister Leyla Aliyeva own Azerfon, one of the largest mobile operators in Azerbaijan through three Panamanian offshore companies. Offshore companies owned by the sisters were also awarded mining rights worth billions of dollars by the Azerbaijan government. They also own PASHA Holding, a conglomerate that has been embroiled in high-level corruption.

Early life Arzu Aliyeva was born on 23 January 1989, in Baku, then Azerbaijan SSR, USSR. She attended high school number 160 in Baku and was also educated in Switzerland and Great Britain, together with her older sister Leyla.

Career

Business career She is a member of the ruling Aliyev family in Azerbaijan. She was embroiled in scandals involving the family's wealth, as she and her family members had wealth stashed in elaborate networks of offshore companies. The documents showed that Arzu and her sister Leyla controlled two previously hidden British Virgin Islands-incorporated firms — Kingsview Developments Limited and Exaltation Limited. Documents have also shown her to be the owner of the offshore company Arbor Investments.

In 2005, Ilham Aliyev's regime granted license for a new mobile operator, Azerfon, to enter the Azerbaijani market. In 2011, investigative reporting revealed that Arzu Aliyeva and her sister Leyla owned 72% of the operator through three Panamanian offshore companies. She produced the documentaries "Objective: Baku. Hitler’s War On Oil” (2015) and "Son Iclas" (2018). She directed Eternal Mission” (Original: “Abadi ezamiyyat”, 2016).

Personal life She has been married to Samed Gurbanov since 3 September 2011. Samed Gurbanov (born 1988) is the only son of the Azerbaijani-Russian businessperson Aydin Kurbanov. Samed Gurbanov was born and raised in Moscow, and is currently involved in family business.

A 2012 report from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that she owned a house worth $1 million in the Czech luxury resort Karlovy Vary. In 2024, she was reported to own six luxury apartments in London, United Kingdom.