Ramiz Mehdiyev Excluded from the Security Council of Azerbaijan

Ramiz Mehdiyev

Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former Head of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, has been dismissed from his position as a member of the country's Security Council.

This was reported by pro-government media in Azerbaijan, citing an unpublished decree by the country's President.

On October 14, the Sabail District Court of Baku ordered a preventive measure of house arrest for Ramiz Mehdiyev in connection with a criminal case opened against him by the State Security Service of the country.

Ramiz Mehdiyev is charged under Articles 278.1 (actions aimed at seizing state power), 274 (high treason), and 193-1.3.2 (legalization of property acquired through criminal means) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to information from pro-government media in Azerbaijan, Mehdiyev was preparing a coup d'état with the help of foreign forces, and the information about this was allegedly passed on to President Aliyev by Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Dushanbe.

Furthermore, the publication "Vesti Baku" even claims that Mehdiyev was planning the assassination of the President of Azerbaijan.

"A 'tragic accident' involving the presidential plane carrying President Ilham Aliyev was planned for December 2024—outwardly resembling an attack by Ukrainian drones," writes "Vesti Baku."

However, according to the publication, "the operation failed." "'The perpetrators made a mistake: instead of the presidential plane, a civilian AZAL aircraft, which was flying the same route 30 minutes earlier, was shot down," states "Vesti Baku."

Ramiz Mehdiyev, one of the former communist leaders of Azerbaijan, returned to politics in the independent republic in the mid-1990s.

He served as the Head of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan from 1995–2019, and from 2019–2022, he was the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS).