Scandal over "French spies" in Azerbaijan
French spies in Azerbaijan
The scandal over “French spies” is gaining momentum in Azerbaijan. At the end of last year, pro-government media reported the arrest in Baku of a group of people engaged in espionage on behalf of France. Yesterday again pro-government media wrote about the identity of one of the detainees with reference to a French journalist of Armenian origin. But there were no official comments on this issue. And today Azerbaijani Ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva talked about the incident.
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According to pro-government media, one of the “French spies” arrested in Baku in December 2023 turned out to be Martin Ryan, one of the heads of the private company Merkorama.
Pro-government media point to the publication of French journalist of Armenian origin Leo Nikolian on social network “X” as the source of this information.
He noted that General Director of Merkorama LLC Martin Ryan was arrested in Baku on December 4 on charges of espionage. He was recruited by two French foreign intelligence agents, who were later expelled from Baku.
“According to information previously circulated in the Western press, as a result of a successful operation by the special services of Azerbaijan, a broad network of the French intelligence services was uncovered. Their activities extended to Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, a number of countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.
Dozens of French spies were identified in a short period of time, some of whom worked in Azerbaijan at one time or another, and some of whom are currently working in a number of neighboring countries and international organizations,” pro-government agency Report says.
According to Turan Agency, a small company Merkorama has been based in Baku since October 2020 and specializes in the import of food products and raw materials. Judging by data on social networks, this company had no more than 10 employees, mostly citizens of Azerbaijan.
The company was also engaged in consulting foreign companies on export and establishment of enterprises in Azerbaijan, as well as providing IT, accounting, legal and translation services.
As for Martin Ryan, very little is known about him. In an interview with the French publication Caucasefrance.com in 2021, he criticized the policy of President Macron’s government towards Azerbaijan.
In particular, he said that the diplomatic crisis in relations between Baku and Paris had deprived French companies of the opportunity to participate in major projects in the liberated territories in Karabakh. He also noted that President Macron, unlike his predecessors, has never visited Azerbaijan since coming to power in 2017.
“Countries that, unlike us, gave even restrained support to Azerbaijan during the conflict are already well positioned and are strengthening their presence in the country every day,” Ryan said.
“He also called on the Pashinyan government to start a direct dialogue with Baku and sign a peace treaty, recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, and open the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which will become Armenia’s investors and leading trading partners. Ryan noted that all this will solve the problem of Armenia’s regional isolation and free it from dependence on foreign diaspora,” Turan reports.
Azerbaijan’s State Security Service has not reported anything on the matter. The French Embassy in Baku also did not make any statements after the accusations of espionage against its citizens.
But today Azerbaijan’s ambassador to France, Leyla Abdullayeva, talked about the incident.
“A French citizen accused of espionage, detained in December 2023 in Baku, has been arrested for four months by court decision,” she told AFP.
She said the French embassy in Baku had been informed of this and that he would be detained for four months by the court decision.
AFP reported that Ryan’s father Richard noted that the family had had the opportunity to speak to him by phone.
“We spoke to him four times, for two minutes each time. He says he is being treated well and that he is able to communicate with his lawyer.”
