The video material released today by the State Security Service (SSS) contains a fragment of a phone conversation between Ramiz Mehdiyev, former head of the Presidential Administration, and an unknown woman. During the conversation, Ramiz Mehdiyev asks the woman for advice on how to transmit a letter he prepared regarding “changes in the state governance system” in Azerbaijan – virtually, concerning the post-coup governance model. The identity of the woman in the video fragment has not been disclosed.
Modern.az reports that this woman works at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and mediated R. Mehdiyev's contacts with Russian security agencies. The source stated that during his tenure as President of ANAS (2019-2022), Mehdiyev maintained contact with his curators in Russia precisely through the agency of the security bodies within the RAS.
It should be noted that Ramiz Mehdiyev was dismissed from the post of President of ANAS on February 19, 2022. Just 3 months before this event - on November 25–26, 2021 - he welcomed a delegation led by Alexander Sergeyev, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in Baku. Mehdiyev personally met the guests at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, and at the meeting held at ANAS, he was presented with a commemorative medal of the RAS.
The fact that Russian intelligence agencies (especially the FSB) maintain strong control mechanisms and an agent network in the Russian Academy of Sciences and other scientific institutions has been repeatedly noted in international media and research. This system has remained since the Soviet Union era, and sometimes intelligence officers operate in the RAS as “consultants” or “experts.” According to the source, the woman Ramiz Mehdiyev contacted is precisely one of these “experts.”
Although the identity of that person is known, it is not being disclosed for the time being due to investigative interests. (APA)
