Azerbaijani pro-government media has claimed that protesters in Washington who were assaulted by the President Ilham Aliyev’s security detail ‘have ties to Russian intelligence services’, with the pro-government media outlet APA identifying the protesters and listing the number of times they visited Russia before moving to the US.
The incident occurred outside the Washington hotel Aliyev stayed during his trip to the US earlier in February, where he went to attend the inaugural meeting of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.
According to the APA, Russia’s pressure on the Azerbaijani government began after the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight on 25 December 2024, which occurred after a Russian anti-air missile mistakenly targeted the plane as it approached Grozny, Chechnya. The plane ultimately crash-landed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.
The publication claimed that Azerbaijan’s subsequent demands that Russia apologise for the crash and pay reparations were not taken seriously by the Kremlin, resulting in deepened tensions between two countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin finally took responsibility for the crash in a meeting with Aliyev in October 2025.
Nonetheless, the friction has continued unabated, and APA claimed that Russia had organised the group of protesters to confront Aliyev in Washington as part of planned ‘provocations’.
Aytan Farhadova
‘Through agents positioned overseas, Russian special services organised a protest in front of the hotel, carrying out another act of provocation’, they wrote.
Referring to the protesters ‘as radical individuals’, APA claimed they ‘voiced insulting and unethical remarks’ toward Aliyev and ‘attempted to enter a protected area’.
The protest ‘should be assessed within a broader security context, given the participants’ prior affiliations and migration trajectories’, APA continued.
APA also claimed that a ‘significant number of those involved in the protest maintained close ties with Russia’, citing their previous visits to the country.
‘Some are Russian citizens, while others lived in Russia for extended periods or traveled there frequently before later relocating to the United States. This sequence suggests not merely a coincidental migration pattern, but also raises the possibility of coordinated planning’, wrote APA.
One of the protesters, Bakhtiyar Abbasov, who was brutally beaten by Aliyev’s guards, commented on an identical article published by another pro-government media outlet, Modern.az.
He stated on social media that he ‘was not aware’ that he was a Russian agent. Abbasov wrote that during former President Heydar Aliyev’s period he worked in the former Ministry of the National Security.
‘I served as a warrant officer, on occasion, I was part of the minister's security detail, as well as security for Heydar Aliyev’s events. For my work, I was awarded honorary orders and diplomas. While living in Russia, I participated in almost every protest organised by the Russian opposition in Moscow!’
Other claims about protesters
The brutal attack by Aliyev’s security detail has continued to spark debate on Azerbaijani social media.
The incident has also spurred criticism inside the US, with Congressperson Frank Pallone criticising Aliyev’s presence in Washington.
‘Bloodsoaked strongmen like Aliyev have no place being paraded around Washington, and they have no right to send hired thugs to attack protestors on the streets of our capital city’, Pallone said.
The pro-government media outlet Qafqazinfo called Pallone ‘an enemy of Azerbaijan’ and claimed that the protestors had ties with the Armenian circles in the US.
‘It’s perfectly clear that the anti-national elements in Washington are minions of chauvinistic Armenian circles in the US, enemies of the people acting on their orders. It’s no coincidence that the first reaction and support for their aggressive and immoral actions came from the ANCA [Armenian National Committee in America]’.
As the discussions around the incident continue to circulate on social media Azerbaijan, pro-government media has also ramped up its counter-claims about the small protest.
Adil Amrakhly, one of those who attended the protest in Washington, said that Azerbaijani pro-government media was labeling him a ‘Russian agent’.
‘Two days ago, I was an “Armenian agent”. Now I’m a “Russian agent”. Let’s see which country’s “agent” I'll be tomorrow. The label changes, but the truth remains’.
Vafa Naghiyeva
