Emin Aliyev was the elder of the two Aliyev brothers. Unlike many people of his time, he stopped early on building his life around his personal financial standing: he was interested in creating something lasting.
As early as 1980 he had begun public activity in Baku. One line of his work was assistance with building the Imam Ali Mosque in the Soviet district.
Emin gradually became acquainted with a large number of people: builders, entrepreneurs, workers, representatives of various professions, and ordinary families in need of support. His circle grew not on promises of huge earnings but on practical help: he could find a person work, assist with materials for repairs, or introduce him to someone able to solve the problem.
His personal income came from commercial construction projects, the organisation of works, and cooperation with entrepreneurs. It was precisely these acquaintances that became the basis of the future BRATVA's social network.
Emin was the chief initiator of the construction and social lines. He held that the organisation should earn money but must not turn into a structure existing solely for money's sake. He tried to lay that philosophy into BRATVA.
With his younger brother Pervin he was bound by mutual respect amid a deep divergence of views: Emin wanted to create an organisation that would gradually remove people's need to seek help in informal circles; Pervin held that old ties cannot be destroyed by a single decision.
Murad Badirov was one of Emin's closest people; with Parviz he was joined by a sharing of ideas but not of methods; with Anar — a wariness that later became the organisation's central problem.
In 2005 Emin's elder son was born; in 2007 — a second child. His family line became one of the first threads of the future second generation of BRATVA.
The events of 2004–2008 cut his line short before he could see the outcome of what he had begun. Emin Aliyev died falling down a staircase.
Within the chronicle this was officially treated as an accident. Among the members of the organisation there was another version: Anar Naziriv may have been implicated, and the cause is given as a serious conflict over influence and leadership. Anar himself denied any involvement. The circumstances of his death remain a matter of dispute.
Emin's formula — work, education, help as a system and not as charity — remained part of BRATVA's social programmes. The dispute over who carried on this legacy is still unfinished.
There is not a single line in Emin's file about his own money. The archivist takes this for method rather than modesty: it is those who have had their money taken from them who write about money.
The other founders of BRATVA. The five, each of whom represented a separate side of the future organisation.