High-Profile Arrests in Azerbaijan Targeting Advocates for Reconciliation with Armenians

In recent days, two high-profile arrests have occurred in Azerbaijan. This was reported by Azerbaijani expert Tatevik Hayrapetyan on her Telegram channel.

One of the arrested individuals, Bahrus Samadov, is accused of spying in favor of Armenians. I am personally familiar with numerous publications by Samadov; he has never written anything pro-Armenian. He has criticized Aliyev, highlighted the deepening tendencies of authoritarianism, and mostly produced objective materials on the West-Azerbaijan relations. Occasionally, he has indirectly supported reconciliation between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. In brief, he had no connections with Armenians but acted according to his beliefs, which have angered the authoritarian Aliyev. Samadov is, in fact, charged with state treason and faces a prison sentence of 12 to 20 years or even life imprisonment.

The other arrested activist is Samad Shikhin. It is still unclear what he is accused of. There are reports that he, too, is in favor of reconciliation. I have read one article he authored, where he discusses how Muslims are oppressed in Azerbaijan. The fact that after Aliyev's re-election in Azerbaijan, a new wave of arrests has begun, specifically targeting those advocating for reconciliation with Armenians, is something I predicted in my article written back in January of this year, titled “Azerbaijan's Snap Elections: Aliyev's 'New Era'.” In the conclusion of that article, I outlined point by point what developments were expected in the coming months, including those related to targeting the West and rapprochement with Moscow. The points I mentioned are becoming a reality, as I base my analyses on facts.

I should note that I would have been very happy to be wrong in my predictions, but unfortunately, the facts speak otherwise. Returning to the topic of the arrested individuals, this is yet another signal that Aliyev's regime continues to seek enemies in Armenians, connecting undesirable individuals with Armenians and accusing them of espionage and state treason. At the same time, the regime demonstrates that it will not allow discourse on reconciliation and peace in Azerbaijan, thereby proving it has no real intention of pursuing peace. This is a fact that the Armenian government desperately tries to conceal, preferring to create a parallel reality focused on bicycles, animal husbandry, and khashlama, where it is preferable to have a dreamer as well...