The Azerbaijani State Security Service (DTX) has shared new details about the scope of the alleged coup plot orchestrated by now-disgraced former presidential aide Ramiz Mehdiyev, who is currently under house arrest. The DTX named new figures they claim conspired with Mehdiyev, and said the group was being supported by the intelligence service of an unnamed foreign country.
On Thursday, the DTX named Ganimat Zaidov, editor-in-chief of the Azadliq newspaper and deputy of the chair opposition Popular Front Party (PFP) Fuad Gahramanli as being connected to Mehdiyev, and said the group planned to harm the ‘the security [and] national interests’ of Azerbaijan.
Mehdiyev was originally detained on 15 October 2025 and charged with actions aimed at seizing state power, high treason, and the legalisation of property obtained by criminal means.
According to the DTX, other individuals involved in the case include former Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov, the already-detained PFP chair Ali Karimli, and PFP member Mammad Ibrahim, along with several others whose names were not disclosed.
Video and audio recordings
On Thursday, the DTX also shared recordings alleged to be Mehdiyev’s phone calls in which he supposedly spoke with unnamed representatives of a foreign security service.
In one call, Mehdiyev spoke to a woman in Russian.
‘During the conversation, Mehdiyev asked the woman for advice on how to forward a letter he had prepared regarding “changes to the system of public administration” in Azerbaijan’, the DTX stated.
Following this, the pro-government media outlet APA wrote that the woman was linked to the Russian Academy of Sciences and that she had acted as an intermediary between Mehdiyev and Russian intelligence agencies.
Citing an anonymous source, APA also wrote that during Mehdiyev’s term as president of the National Academy of Sciences, which lasted from 2019–2022, he maintained contacts with these Russian intelligence agencies via the academy.
‘International media and academic research have repeatedly noted that Russian intelligence agencies maintain powerful control mechanisms and a network of agents within the Russian academy and other scientific institutions. This system dates back to the Soviet era, and intelligence officers sometimes act as “consultants” or “experts” in electronic warfare’, APA wrote.
The DTX also shared a voice recording in which they claimed proved Zaidov had been ‘secretly negotiating on behalf of Karimli’ since 2013, including in communications with foreign intelligence services and ‘calling for the use of the extensive organisational and special capabilities’ of these services to help Karimli come to power.
No details were mentioned regarding which foreign intelligence service or country Zaidov was allegedly linked to.
In the alleged voice recordings, Zaidov also reportedly complained about the political situation in Azerbaijan and shared his future predictions that if Karimli came to power, Azerbaijan might again become a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
Independent media outlet Qazetci later analysed the recording, reporting that it contained voices from 10 different individuals.
In turn, Zaidov wrote on social media that the ‘DTX continue to specialise in the most extreme scenarios’.
‘Now they've shown a penchant for creating new versions of old stories. They’ve uncovered “shocking” facts about alleged “coup plans involving foreign intelligence services”. This old gang, masters of montage and collage, is desperately trying to prolong the existence of their vile regime’, he noted.
Zaidov told Qazetci that the conversation shared by the DTX was a phone call between him and an Azerbaijani living abroad from around five years ago.
The new charges related to Karimli mark the second criminal case recently opened against him. Now based in France, Zaidov was charged in December 2025 for making open calls against the state on social media and subsequently sentenced to seven years in jail in absentia.
Aytan Farhadova
In addition to voice recordings, the DTX also shared footage of Gahramanli. In one scene, it appears Gahramanli taking money from someone not present in the footage.
Gahramanli soon responded to the alleged footage, writing on social media that he had received the money in 2010 when PFP member Hasan Karimov fell ill, and a friend wanted to give money to help him.
‘Then, at this man’s request, we met several times, and he gave me $2,000 in cash. He said that he wanted to support [Karimov]. It has now emerged that [the interactions] were actually intended for the video recording’ he wrote.
In a second video recording, Gahramanli is seemingly being interrogated, though it is unknown when or where the video was taken.
According to the DTX, Karimli instructed Gahramanli ‘to create chaos’ during a march in support of the army in Baku on the night of 14-15 July 2020, including having him ‘take advantage of the situation, control the crowd, and seize the AzTV television channel building’.
OC Media
Right after the protest, police began a crackdown on PFP members in Baku — 45 PFP members were detained, including Gahramanli, who later reported that he was ‘subjected to torture, lost his consciousness and came to after being doused with a bucket of water’.
‘The investigator said me that the two police will rape me if I will not give testimony against Karimli. They also gave me two injections, the purpose of which I did not know, and showed a piece of paper where something was written, so that I could read my statement from it. And I do not remember what happened after that’, he wrote.
Union of the Billionaires
Separately, the DTX accused Abbasov and well-known film director Rustam Ibrahimbayov of helping organise a conspiracy ‘with the aim of interfering in political processes in Azerbaijan’.
According to the DTX, Abbasov, along with Mehdiyev, funded the PFP ‘to attract people from various regions of the republic to commit the aforementioned acts’ using the Union of Billionaires organisation.
‘In order to hold the rallies, they allegedly used funds in the amount of ₼934,000 ($550,000) received from PFP member Ibrahim and other individuals, including funds received from Mehdiyev and Abbasov’, the DTX wrote.
The Union of Billionaires was established in Russia by a group of wealthy Azerbaijanis, who wanted to create a stronger bond within the diaspora. The union ended its activity in 2015.
Following the accusations, the chair of the opposition National Council and another individual allegedly linked to Mehdiyev and Karimli by the DTX, Jamil Hasanli, emphasised that there never have been ties between the National Council and the Union of Billionaires.
‘Although attempts were made, the “Union of Russian–Azerbaijani Organisations” was never created or registered. Secondly, all the billionaires who wanted to form this alliance were friends and relatives of Ilham Aliyev’.
‘Isr Plaza, owned by Iskandar Khalilov, still operates in Baku, and Araz Aghalarov was awarded the $60 billion Sea Breeze project on Absheron. How is it possible that people who “borrowed money” for the coup in Azerbaijan are given such broad economic privileges?’, Hasanli questioned rhetorically.
Karimli also responded to the DTX’s accusations, calling the claims ‘completely false’.
‘The National Council was formed in 2013 with the participation of all existing opposition forces specifically to ensure a peaceful transition from authoritarianism to democracy’, Karimli said.
Aytan Farhadova
