The Situation of Talysh People in Azerbaijan Has Deteriorated: Blankspot

On July 22, a citizen of Azerbaijan, Iqbal Abilov, was arrested. He has been living in Belarus since the age of six and is of Talysh descent, a national minority living in southern Azerbaijan and northern Iran, reports the Swedish magazine Blankspot.

Abilov was detained upon his arrival in Azerbaijan to attend a wedding, but when he was supposed to return to Belarus, he was not allowed to leave the country. A month later, he was charged with inciting ethnic hatred and treason.

The arrest occurred at the same time as that of former Azerbaijani diplomat Emin Saik Ibrahimov, who had previously been in the USA, charged with stabbing a man. Human rights defenders regard both arrests as unlawful. They come amid mass arrests of human rights defenders and journalists in Azerbaijan last year.

This autumn, Azerbaijan is set to host the COP29 climate summit.