Ramiz Mehdiyev (left), a longtime Aliyev family lieutenant seen here receiving the prestigious Heydar Aliyev award from Ilham Aliyev in 2019, was arrested in October 2025 on charges that include engaging in “acts aimed at seizing state power.”
(Photo: president.az)
October 18, 2025
By Eurasianet
(Eurasianet) — Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev appeared to bury the hatchet with his Kremlin counterpart Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Dushanbe earlier in October.
Or did he?
The arrest of a longtime Aliyev family lieutenant on treason charges raises fresh questions about Baku’s relationship with Russia.
Azerbaijani-Russian ties took a nosedive following the accidental shootdown of a civilian jetliner last December. Aliyev’s anger with Russia, and his willingness to plunge Azerbaijani-Russian relations into a deep freeze, stemmed from Putin’s reluctance to take responsibility for the tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of 38 passengers and crew aboard the Azerbaijani jet. Putin during the October meeting with Aliyev finally acknowledged that a Russian anti-aircraft missile brought down the jet, but did not offer an explicit apology, telling Aliyev only that relatives of the victims would receive due compensation.
Aliyev thanked Putin at the time, indicating that bilateral relations could start to thaw.
Yet the treason charges leveled against Ramiz Mehdiyev raise questions about whether bilateral relations are back on an even keel.
Mehdiyev is accused of engaging in “acts aimed at seizing state power” and of obtaining property via illegal means. A Baku court ordered him confined to house arrest for four months while prosecutors continue their investigation. He is currently 87 years old, and if he ends up being prosecuted, he cannot be given a life sentence under Azerbaijani law. Mehdiyev also faces the prospect of being stripped of all his state awards and titles.
According to a October 16 report published by the government-funded APA news agency, Mehdiyev approached Russian contacts at some point amid the Azerbaijani-Russian chill earlier in 2025 with a plan to oust Aliyev, replacing him with a provisional state council that Mehdiyev himself would lead. The Russian leadership was allegedly initially receptive to the plan but ultimately concluded it did not have any chance of success, the report indicated. Ultimately, Putin informed the Azerbaijani leader of the plot during their October tête-à-tête in Dushanbe.
Mehdiyev was a member of the Aliyev family’s inner circle for decades, pre-dating the collapse of the Soviet Union. He held the post of presidential chief of staff for roughly 25 years starting in 1995, serving not only Ilham Aliyev, but also the incumbent’s father, Heydar. In the early 2000s, following the elder Aliyev’s death, Mehdiyev acted as then-inexperienced Ilham Aliyev’s political tutor, smoothing the dynastic transition of power. From 2019-2022, he served as President of the National Academy of Sciences. At the time of his arrest, he was a member of the National Security Council.
Throughout his time in the halls of power, Mehdiyev – a product of the Soviet system and the holder of many senior Communist Party posts before the independence era – had the reputation of someone with a friendly disposition towards Moscow. “Even going back to Soviet times, he was known as a member of the Moscow agency network,” the APA report commented.
But there are hints in the official account of Mehdiyev’s downfall that suggest lots of behind-the-scenes intrigue about this episode still has not come to light. Most intriguingly, the APA report states that Mehdiyev gave Russia a list of other members of the proposed provisional state council that was to replace Aliyev. But as of October 17, no new names have been publicly revealed, and no additional arrests have been made in connection with the alleged plot.
In addition, the official version states that Mehdiyev approached Russian contacts with the coup idea. But some long-time Azerbaijan watchers wonder whether if it was Moscow that approached Mehdiyev first, and Russian officials later decided to betray him after determining that a coup couldn’t succeed.
Putin’s exposure of the plot to Aliyev is framed in the official account as a friendly move. But the Kremlin leader’s gesture carried menacing undertones, indicating that Aliyev’s regime is not as stable as it thinks it may be, and that even the closest of allies can become a turncoat. It may well have been Putin’s way of telling Aliyev; don’t stray too far from Russia and your regime will be protected.
Aliyev, though he seemed to score a political win in his faceoff with Putin over the shootdown tragedy, now seems to be on the defensive with Russia. At the height of his feud with Putin earlier in 2025, Aliyev acted at times like he held all the cards. Putin seems to have proved to him that is not the case. Accordingly, it bears watching how Baku moves forward with efforts to make peace with Armenia and expand the Middle Corridor trade route. The Kremlin is no fan of the Washington-brokered peace plan.
Mehdiyev’s arrest shows that bilateral Azerbaijani-Russian relations, though nominally back on track, are anything but normalized.
October 18, 2025
By Eurasianet
(Eurasianet) — Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev appeared to bury the hatchet with his Kremlin counterpart Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Dushanbe earlier in October.
Or did he?
The arrest of a longtime Aliyev family lieutenant on treason charges raises fresh questions about Baku’s relationship with Russia.
Azerbaijani-Russian ties took a nosedive following the accidental shootdown of a civilian jetliner last December. Aliyev’s anger with Russia, and his willingness to plunge Azerbaijani-Russian relations into a deep freeze, stemmed from Putin’s reluctance to take responsibility for the tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of 38 passengers and crew aboard the Azerbaijani jet. Putin during the October meeting with Aliyev finally acknowledged that a Russian anti-aircraft missile brought down the jet, but did not offer an explicit apology, telling Aliyev only that relatives of the victims would receive due compensation.
Aliyev thanked Putin at the time, indicating that bilateral relations could start to thaw.
Yet the treason charges leveled against Ramiz Mehdiyev raise questions about whether bilateral relations are back on an even keel.
Mehdiyev is accused of engaging in “acts aimed at seizing state power” and of obtaining property via illegal means. A Baku court ordered him confined to house arrest for four months while prosecutors continue their investigation. He is currently 87 years old, and if he ends up being prosecuted, he cannot be given a life sentence under Azerbaijani law. Mehdiyev also faces the prospect of being stripped of all his state awards and titles.
According to a October 16 report published by the government-funded APA news agency, Mehdiyev approached Russian contacts at some point amid the Azerbaijani-Russian chill earlier in 2025 with a plan to oust Aliyev, replacing him with a provisional state council that Mehdiyev himself would lead. The Russian leadership was allegedly initially receptive to the plan but ultimately concluded it did not have any chance of success, the report indicated. Ultimately, Putin informed the Azerbaijani leader of the plot during their October tête-à-tête in Dushanbe.
Mehdiyev was a member of the Aliyev family’s inner circle for decades, pre-dating the collapse of the Soviet Union. He held the post of presidential chief of staff for roughly 25 years starting in 1995, serving not only Ilham Aliyev, but also the incumbent’s father, Heydar. In the early 2000s, following the elder Aliyev’s death, Mehdiyev acted as then-inexperienced Ilham Aliyev’s political tutor, smoothing the dynastic transition of power. From 2019-2022, he served as President of the National Academy of Sciences. At the time of his arrest, he was a member of the National Security Council.
Throughout his time in the halls of power, Mehdiyev – a product of the Soviet system and the holder of many senior Communist Party posts before the independence era – had the reputation of someone with a friendly disposition towards Moscow. “Even going back to Soviet times, he was known as a member of the Moscow agency network,” the APA report commented.
But there are hints in the official account of Mehdiyev’s downfall that suggest lots of behind-the-scenes intrigue about this episode still has not come to light. Most intriguingly, the APA report states that Mehdiyev gave Russia a list of other members of the proposed provisional state council that was to replace Aliyev. But as of October 17, no new names have been publicly revealed, and no additional arrests have been made in connection with the alleged plot.
In addition, the official version states that Mehdiyev approached Russian contacts with the coup idea. But some long-time Azerbaijan watchers wonder whether if it was Moscow that approached Mehdiyev first, and Russian officials later decided to betray him after determining that a coup couldn’t succeed.
Putin’s exposure of the plot to Aliyev is framed in the official account as a friendly move. But the Kremlin leader’s gesture carried menacing undertones, indicating that Aliyev’s regime is not as stable as it thinks it may be, and that even the closest of allies can become a turncoat. It may well have been Putin’s way of telling Aliyev; don’t stray too far from Russia and your regime will be protected.
Aliyev, though he seemed to score a political win in his faceoff with Putin over the shootdown tragedy, now seems to be on the defensive with Russia. At the height of his feud with Putin earlier in 2025, Aliyev acted at times like he held all the cards. Putin seems to have proved to him that is not the case. Accordingly, it bears watching how Baku moves forward with efforts to make peace with Armenia and expand the Middle Corridor trade route. The Kremlin is no fan of the Washington-brokered peace plan.
Mehdiyev’s arrest shows that bilateral Azerbaijani-Russian relations, though nominally back on track, are anything but normalized.
Eurasianet
Originally published at Eurasianet. Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on the most important developments in the region. A tax-exempt [501(c)3] organization, Eurasianet is based at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, one of the leading centers in North America of scholarship on Eurasia. Read more at eurasianet.org.
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