 In Azerbaijan, the Yeraz form a cohesive political clan that, along with the Nakhchivani clan, has dominated Azerbaijani politics since Soviet times.Though born in Nakhchivan, the family of Heydar Aliyev, longtime President of Azerbaijan and father of its current President, originated from Armenia; as a result he essentially had a double-origin and strong political base in Azerbaijan's Western clans.As the distribution of power in Azerbaijani politics is based on clan and familial ties, these two Western Azerbaijani clans have pushed other clans from power and formed a pyramidal web of patronage built around Nakhichevanis and Yerazi clan groups.