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President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, as first vice president, the latest move seen as tightening the family’s grip on the oil-rich Caspian nation.
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The appointment follows constitutional changes made after a tightly-managed referendum last year that introduced the powerful position of first vice president, the second most senior official in the country.
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Born into the powerful Pashayev family, Aliyeva has sometimes been seen as a possible successor to her husband, who took over in 2003 after the death of his father, Heydar, a former KGB officer and Communist-era boss.
