Azerbaijan's main opposition leader Ali Karimli, chairman of the Popular Front Party (PFPA), was detained on November 29 as a suspect in the ongoing treason investigation into former Presidential Administration head Ramiz Mehdiyev. 

State security services conducting searches lasting over six hours at Karimli’s residence and charged him with attempting to seize power by force, according to Reuters.

Pro-government media reported that Karimli and his adviser Mammad Ibrahim were brought into the State Security Service (SSS) investigation as suspects in the criminal case against Mehdiyev, who faces charges under Articles 278.1 (actions aimed at seizing state power), 274 (treason against the state), and 193-1.3.2 (legalisation of criminally obtained property). No formal charges have yet been announced against Karimli and Ibrahim, though Karimli is accused under Article 278 (attempting to seize power by force).

The detentions triggered a cascade of law enforcement actions targeting opposition figures across Azerbaijan and abroad, with the National Council chairman Jamil Hasanli subjected to a travel ban and summoned for questioning, whilst National Council member Gultakin Hajibeyli was detained in Istanbul by Turkish authorities and faces deportation.

Karimli, 59, has led the reformist wing of the Popular Front Party since 2000. Born in Saatli in 1965, he studied law at Baku State University, where he established the Yurd (Homeland) movement supporting democratic reforms. In November 1988, Yurd organised student protests against the communist regime that were suppressed by security forces. In April 1993, then president Abulfaz Elchibey appointed Karimli as secretary of state, but he resigned following the June 1993 coup that brought Heydar Aliyev to power. After Elchibey's death in 2000, Karimli became head of the Popular Front's reformist faction, serving in parliament from 1995 to 2000. 

Authorities confiscated his international passport years ago, making him one of the few opposition leaders worldwide without valid travel documents. He organised protests during the 2011 regional unrest and faced an eight-hour interrogation by the attorney general. In April 2016, after criticising the government over clashes with Armenia, he became subject to allegedly government-organised counter-protests demanding his exile.

Multiple opposition figures detained

Information about the detentions and home searches spread on November 29, with the PFPA reporting that SSS officers conducted searches at multiple locations. Besides Karimli and Ibrahim, PFPA supreme council secretary Mammad Ibrahim, the chairman's assistant Faiq Amirli, PFPA member Ruslan Amirov, and former member Saleh Rustamli were also detained. PFPA press secretary Natiq Adilov later reported that Amirli and Amirov had been released.

According to the PFPA's account, during the search of Karimli's home, SSS officers planted and then claimed to have "discovered" a copy of a letter allegedly written by Ramiz Mehdiyev to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The purported letter, previously circulated in pro-government media, allegedly contains Mehdiyev's proposal to Putin for creating a transitional government in Azerbaijan. Mehdiyev's own position on this letter remains unknown. Karimli had previously denied allegations of cooperation with Mehdiyev. The PFPA rejected the accusations against Karimli and others, calling it the government's latest repressive campaign.

In the early hours of November 30, National Council chairman and historian Jamil Hasanli announced on his Facebook page that he had been barred from leaving Azerbaijan and summoned to the SSS as a witness. Hasanli reported that he and his wife were scheduled to fly to Dubai at 12:20 Baku time on November 30 for personal reasons, but a travel ban had been placed on him. He stated he purchased the ticket on November 7, with a return date of December 15, posting the electronic ticket to Facebook.

Hasanli noted he was invited to the SSS as a witness and expected a search of his home. In a detailed Facebook post, he declared that his home contained no suspicious documents beyond his own writings, and listed his financial holdings: $3,000 and GBP245 ($324) kept at home for emergencies, approximately GBP30 on a Revolut bank card used in London, and GBP709 on an HSBC card, plus a pension card for daily use. "I have no funds other than what I mentioned. If any suspicious documents or funds appear, know that they are fake," Hasanli wrote, adding that "their capabilities to defame people are very large”.

In the night between November 29 and 30, National Council member Gultakin Hajibeyli was detained by Turkish law enforcement and taken to an isolation facility intended for persons to be deported. Hajibeyli told Toplum TV whilst in a police car that she was being taken to a police station and expected deportation to Azerbaijan.

Hajibeyli rejected accusations linking her to Russia, describing them as absurd. "Ramiz Mehdiyev is the man who destroyed my entire life. I am a patriotic person, a Turkish nationalist," she said, calling suggestions of Russian ties "a more absurd, more disgusting lie and slander than this". 

She characterised the case as "probably Azerbaijan's 'Feto' issue”, a reference to the Fetullah Terror Organisation (FETO), and "probably a persecution carried out to eliminate the opposition in Azerbaijan". Hajibeyli said she had been scheduled to take an IELTS exam at 9am the following morning and asked to attend before reporting to police, but "they did not give me that chance", adding: "It is clear that they are rushing for deportation."

Former Gadabay district Executive Authority head Saleh Rustamov was released after being questioned at SSS, his lawyer Bahruz Bayramov informed Meydan TV. "They did not allow me to meet with him as a lawyer," Bayramov said, adding that Rustamov's nephew Vidadi Rustamov was also detained before both were released following questioning.

The family had reported on November 29 that Rustamov was detained by SSS Gadabay district branch officers and taken to Baku. According to the family, when Rustamov was detained, officers assured him he would be released within a day. 

"When my father wanted to take extra clothes with him, the officers swore up and down that there was no need, that he would be released by tomorrow at the latest," his son Sezgin Rustamov wrote on social media. "A day has passed and we cannot find my father. We have been through this once before. When my father was imprisoned in 2018, we did not know his location for days, then it became known that he was being subjected to severe torture."

Bayramov told Meydan TV that on November 30, the head of the investigation group informed him that Rustamov had not been brought to the SSS. The lawyer noted that Rustamov had gone to Kazakhstan to work after being released from prison "because the Russian Federal Security Service was bothering him", then returned to Azerbaijan when his niece passed away, whereupon authorities banned him from leaving. "Saleh Rustamov has no political activity," Bayramov said, adding that he had sent enquiries to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, SSS and the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the travel ban without receiving responses.

Rustamov had previously been imprisoned on charges of illegal financial assistance to the PFPA, but later released under a presidential pardon before his sentence expired. He did not accept the accusations related to his imprisonment.

Last independent political force

The PFPA issued a statement characterising the detentions as "an attempt to eliminate the last independent political force in Azerbaijan" and suppress "the people's struggle for democracy and freedom".

"No official basis has been disclosed for his detention," the statement said, noting that searches were also conducted at other party members' homes. The party declared Karimli's detention "purely politically motivated", arguing that despite government attempts to impose "a de facto blockade against him" in recent years, Karimli "remains one of the main democratic figures in Azerbaijan".

"His interviews with leading international media and invitations to global political forums have disturbed the Ilham Aliyev regime," the statement continued, describing the operation as "the next step towards further strengthening political repressions" in an environment where "political activity is almost completely banned and civil liberties are severely restricted".

PFPA demanded immediate release for "Ali Karimli, Mammad Ibrahim and other detained members", insisting that "persecution against them must be stopped, and access to legal defence and security must be ensured". The party called on "the international community, human rights organisations and democratic governments" to "urgently respond to what is happening and demand that the Azerbaijani government comply with its international human rights obligations".

Pro-government media campaign

The arrests followed an intensive pro-government media campaign that began weeks earlier. On November 4, state news agency APA published a lengthy article titled "PFPA and Musavat must cease their activities" under the guise of analysis, arguing that both opposition parties posed national security threats and should be banned. Such articles in pro-government outlets typically signal Presidential Administration intentions.

The November 4 piece accused the PFPA and Musavat of maintaining "close ties with foreign influence circles" through grant mechanisms and international organisation programmes, claimed they failed to support Azerbaijan during the 44-day war with Armenia, and alleged connections between party leaders and the "Ramiz Mehdiyev network" involving plans to create a parallel "State Council" structure.

On November 29, hours after the detentions became public, APA published another article alleging that PFPA chairman Karimli organised protests in 2019 specifically at Mehdiyev's instruction to mourn his removal from office. "The interesting point is that after Ramiz Mehdiyev was dismissed from his position, Ali Karimli's enthusiasm for holding rallies disappeared," the article claimed, arguing this proved Mehdiyev used the PFPA's rally demands for internal political escalation whilst heading the Presidential Administration.

The article accused the "Mehdiyev network" of establishing "ideological and information cooperation" with the PFPA, preparing plans for creating a transitional government and securing foreign support. It concluded: "Ali Karimli, his functionaries, as well as National Council members, including Jamil Hasanli, must be permanently removed from the political system at this stage."

Opposition figures reject accusations

Multiple opposition voices rejected the allegations as politically fabricated. Arif Hajili, head of the Musavat party, questioned the selective targeting in a statement noting that whilst multiple opposition figures faced searches and detention, Mehdiyev himself "has not been searched or arrested" despite purportedly facing "the most serious state crimes".

"All of this, moreover, against the backdrop of Ramiz Mehdiyev himself not being searched or arrested, propaganda campaigns, persecution and arrests against Ali Karimli and other well-known representatives of the opposition show the political nature of the issue," Hajili wrote on social media, describing it as "an attempt to divert society's attention from problems within the government to the opposition".

Former prime minister Panah Huseyn issued a statement calling for Karimli's release whilst acknowledging the need to counter Russian influence. Huseyn wrote that the recent campaign in Azerbaijan's information space linking opposition figures with the Mehdiyev case, "which is clearly organised by official bodies", followed by detentions and searches "creates the impression that the incident is unfortunately directed in the most undesirable direction".

"Instead of strengthening national mobilisation and national unity against Russia's possible aggression, it is being directed and used by the government to persecute its political opponents," Huseyn argued. He called the detentions counterproductive to national security, stating they "do not serve national unity, which is a necessary condition for national and state resistance against Russia's possible aggressive steps, but on the contrary damage it".

Seymur Hazi, Karimli's deputy, framed the arrests as targeting those who genuinely opposed Russian influence. "We have systematically defended Ukraine, as a result of which Azerbaijan has not appeared as a Russia-oriented society," he said, noting that Karimli "has conducted or organised this work with systematic writings and speeches".

Hazi emphasised that the PFPA, the National Council and Karimli made "the official and first protest" when President Aliyev signed an alliance agreement with Russia and brought Russian troops to Karabakh. "We are preventing Russia's affairs from going smoothly here," he said, arguing that "both the Kremlin and Aliyev unite and plan this script" because Karimli's activities "obstruct not only Aliyev but also the Kremlin".

Rashid Hajili, chairman of the Media Rights Institute, questioned the timing and rationale in a Facebook post. Noting that Karimli is "the harshest critic of the government" with "fanatical supporters", he asked: "Why now?" Hajili pointed to the alleged Mehdiyev coup plot and claims of PFPA connections as resembling "an unoriginal script experiencing a creativity shortage". He questioned why the government's tolerance for criticism had declined so sharply, noting that years ago "there were many critical newspapers, radios, and opposition critics had platforms", and whilst authorities periodically suppressed these voices, "the government heard these voices and criticisms every day for years and tolerated them".

"What has happened then?" Hajili wrote, suggesting the government might be "clearing the way" ahead of "some powerful tests" involving "these fearful risks". He argued that silencing critics through fabricated charges damages the country, writing: "Their thoughts, speeches, activities do not pose a threat to political power, the state, or public order."

Mehdiyev case

The Ramiz Mehdiyev investigation began publicly on October 14, when Sabail District Court placed the 87-year-old former Presidential Administration head under four months of house arrest on charges of treason, attempting violent seizure of power, and money laundering. Pro-government media subsequently claimed that "the Kremlin itself revealed Mehdiyev's plan to the Azerbaijani leadership" during a meeting between Presidents Putin and Aliyev in Dushanbe on October 9.

The alleged plot reportedly involved Mehdiyev proposing to create a temporary "State Council" to govern during a "transitional period" after forcible power takeover, with himself heading this council. Pro-government sources cited a secret dinner Mehdiyev allegedly hosted in summer 2024 at his Novkhani home with former officials during peak Azerbaijan-Russia tensions as evidence of conspiracy.

However, the connection between Mehdiyev, a Soviet-era apparatchik who served as Presidential Administration head from 1995 to 2019 and was known for suppressing dissent, and opposition figures like Karimli who spent years as his targets appears contradictory. PFPA and opposition figures have emphasised that Mehdiyev orchestrated their persecution for decades, making allegations of cooperation implausible.

The detentions are the latest escalation in Azerbaijan's crackdown on remaining opposition voices, with more than 20 journalists currently detained according to international monitors—the highest number since 2003. The government maintains the actions are legitimate responses to national security threats involving foreign coordination, whilst opposition groups and international observers characterise them as politically motivated persecution designed to eliminate independent political activity.