Azerbaijan critic Kamal Isayev denies backing separatist Talysh state

Kamal Isayev

An imprisoned critic of the Azerbaijani government has told a Baku court he never supported the creation of an independent Talysh state.

Kamal Isayev, a prominent campaigner who has long criticised Baku’s policies towards ethnic minorities, made the remarks during a hearing at the Baku Grave Crimes Court on Thursday.

State prosecutors accuse Isayev of using social media platforms to incite ethnic hatred and call for the partitioning of Azerbaijan's territory.

The prosecution highlighted past social media posts, including one where Isayev allegedly wrote that "one day the Talysh will come to power and end the injustice".

He is also accused of claiming to be the culture minister of the "Talysh-Mughan Republic" — a self-declared autonomous administration that briefly surfaced in southern Azerbaijan during a period of civil unrest in 1993.

But Isayev strongly rejected the allegations, describing the criminal case against him as "entirely slanderous".

I have never been in favour of creating any Talysh state," Isayev told the court, which is presided over by Judge Farid Namazov.

He added that the claim he had declared himself a minister was false, explaining he had only been assigned to oversee cultural affairs in a private WhatsApp group.

Isayev admitted the social media posts belonged to him but argued they had been systematically taken out of context.

In the last seven to eight years, I have made hundreds of speeches and posts on social media," he said. "They have taken one sentence that suits them from each post to draw up an indictment."

A Russian citizen who lived in Russia, Isayev was detained in November last year while travelling to Turkey, before being extradited to Azerbaijan.

He had previously run YouTube channels under the names Jahid Kamal and Arya Tolosh, using them to criticise Baku's treatment of the Talysh people, an Iranian-speaking ethnic minority group living mainly in southern Azerbaijan.

Isayev faces several charges under the Azerbaijani criminal code, including making public appeals against the state and distributing symbols aimed at partitioning the country.

The trial is scheduled to resume on 29 July.