New details have emerged regarding "the French spy network" in Azerbaijan
French spies in Azerbaijan
Amid the lack of official information regarding the disclosure of the “French spy network” in Azerbaijan, foreign media outlets are reporting new details of this story.
Earlier reports indicated the arrest of French citizen Martin Ryan in Azerbaijan. Now, the identity of another individual arrested in connection with this case has been revealed. He is a citizen of Azerbaijan, identified as A. Mamedli.
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In early December 2023, pro-government media in Azerbaijan reported the arrest of a group of individuals in Baku allegedly engaged in espionage for France.
In early January 2024, the same pro-government media identified one of the detainees, citing a French journalist of Armenian origin. This individual was identified as Martin Ryan, a French citizen who owned a private business in Azerbaijan.
He was accused of espionage. Simultaneously, two employees of the French embassy in Azerbaijan were declared persona non grata.
On April 6, the Telegram channel Observer Online reported that another individual had been arrested in connection with this case — Azerbaijani citizen A. Mamedli. It was reported that he was accused of establishing ‘extensive secret connections’ with French citizen Ryan, ‘in exchange for obtaining French citizenship and financial rewards.’
It is alleged that he was involved in gathering and transmitting information about the Caucasus region to French intelligence services.
According to the same source, Ryan and Mamedli, on the instructions of intelligence officers, established relationships with employees of the French bank Societe Generale.
Mamedli was involved in opening “of the number of correspondent accounts in Azerbaijani banks and concluding interbank agreements on other issues.”
From all this, it is not clear what constitutes espionage and what opening bank accounts has to do with it.
The Azerbaijani lawyer representing Ryan has refused to comment, and it has not been possible to establish who is defending the rights of A. Mamedli.
Official sources in Azerbaijan are also silent about this case, except for one instance. On January 9, 2024, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to France, Leyla Abdullaeva, spoke about the incident.
“The French citizen accused of espionage, detained in Baku in December 2023, has been arrested by court decision for a period of four months,” she said in an interview with AFP.
She also mentioned that the French Embassy in Baku was notified about this.
Who is Martin Ryan?
It is known that he is the CEO of Merkorama LLC, based in Baku since October 2020, specializing in importing food products and raw materials.
According to social media data, this company had no more than 10 employees, mostly Azerbaijani citizens. The company also provided consulting services to foreign companies on export issues and establishing businesses in Azerbaijan, as well as services in IT, accounting, legal matters, and translation.
Very little is known about Martin Ryan himself.
In 2021, in an interview with the French publication Caucasefrance.com, he criticized President Macron’s government policy towards Azerbaijan.
He specifically mentioned that the diplomatic crisis between Baku and Paris deprived French companies of the opportunity to participate in major projects in the liberated territories in Karabakh.
He also noted that unlike his predecessors, President Macron had not visited Azerbaijan once since coming to power in 2017.
“Unlike France, countries that even provided restrained support to Azerbaijan during the conflict are already gaining strong footholds and strengthening their presence in the country,” Ryan said.
In the same interview, he urged Pashinyan’s government to initiate direct dialogue with Baku and sign a peace treaty, recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, open borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which would become investors in Armenia and leading trade partners.
Ryan noted that “all this would help solve the problem of Armenia’s regional isolation and free it from dependence on the foreign diaspora,” reports the Azerbaijani news agency Turan.
The Azerbaijani Security Service has not commented on the matter. The French Embassy in Baku also did not make any statements following the accusations of espionage against its citizen.
