Baku’s latest ‘biggest enemy’ Journalist Orkhan Mammad explains how Azerbaijani propaganda weaponized the ongoing diplomatic crisis with Russia
Russia and Azerbaijan are embroiled in an ongoing diplomatic row. In late June, Russian authorities carried out mass arrests targeting members of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg that left two people dead. Baku responded in an unexpectedly sharp manner, canceling most cultural events linked to Russia and arresting two executives from the Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik Azerbaijan, along with eight other Russian citizens, on charges of drug trafficking and cybercrime. Azerbaijani state propaganda has played a key role in the escalating tensions, accusing Vladimir Putin and Russian society of imperialism and racism. Meduza spoke with Orkhan Mammad, a journalist with the exiled Azerbaijani publication Meydan TV, to understand how Azerbaijan’s propaganda works, which red lines it avoids, and why state media continues to take a pro-Russian stance on the war in Ukraine.
— How has Azerbaijani propaganda responded to the police raids targeting Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg? And why have the country’s authorities jumped on the issue so forcefully?
— Over the past week, Azerbaijani propaganda media outlets have made Russia out to be the [country’s] biggest enemy. We know that police beatings are nothing new in Russia, but this time, to my surprise, Azerbaijan’s government responded with unusual force. Now, the messaging from propaganda media is that Russia has always treated Azerbaijanis through a racist lens.
One [National Assembly] deputy [Aydin Huseynov, of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party] said that “Russians look down on us,” while another [Tahir Kerimli of the Unity Party] called Putin responsible for the Russian government’s anti-Azerbaijani policies. The overarching propaganda message is this: “The Russians have always treated us this way. They’ve always arrested us, always beaten us. But now we’re powerful, and we’re pushing back. We have an army. We have everything. We won the war [in Karabakh].”
After the [December 2024] Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crash, propaganda outlets also criticized Russia and demanded that the Kremlin apologize to Baku. At the time, [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev was furious with Putin — six months went by, and the Kremlin still hadn’t issued an apology, even though [Aliyev] had publicly demanded one multiple times and called on the Russian president to take responsibility. That clearly enraged Aliyev. And that’s why we’re seeing blood on the faces of Russian detainees in Baku, a sharp diplomatic escalation, and an aggressive propaganda campaign.
Just recently, [Azerbaijani] propaganda media showed a written statement from the Russian officer who gave the order to shoot down the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. Why hold onto it for six months and release it only now? Clearly, Azerbaijan is using everything at its disposal against Russia. We’ve never seen tensions this high. Maybe the people detained in Yekaterinburg really were part of a gang, but again, the intensity of Aliyev’s reaction says one thing: he is genuinely furious. And for now, Azerbaijan shows no signs of backing down from this escalation.
At the same time, Azerbaijani propaganda avoids criticizing Putin personally — I think that’s a red line. But they are going after figures like [Russia Today editor-in-chief Margarita] Simonyan and portraying Russians as enemies more broadly.
— Why has Russia decided to escalate the diplomatic crisis? What other levers of pressure does the Kremlin have over Baku?
— One possible reason for Russia’s escalation, at least initially, is the Zangezur Corridor deal, which Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan agreed on without the Kremlin’s involvement. Perhaps the Russian authorities want Azerbaijan to stop building the corridor with financial support from the United States — or, for example, to include a clause in the agreement granting Russia control over the corridor. But as it stands, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan are building the corridor with U.S. financial support, and Russia is not part of the project.
We’re also seeing signs of improved relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In late June, [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan visited Turkey, following a visit from Aliyev just one day earlier. And on July 4, [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan is visiting Azerbaijan.
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Russian propaganda media began talking a lot about Aliyev’s son Heydar’s unpaid taxes in Russia — a rather sensitive topic for the Azerbaijani president. Russia also opened a criminal case for tax evasion against Aras Agalarov, a close associate of Aliyev and the owner of the Crocus City Hall [concert venue in Moscow].
There are millions of Azerbaijanis living in Russia. And if the Russian government decided to deport thousands of people, I have no doubt it could. Many Azerbaijanis in Russia may lack the proper documents to reside in the country legally.
There are also substantial remittances flowing from Russia to Azerbaijan. People work in Moscow and send money home — we’re talking about millions of dollars. If Russia were to restrict those money transfers, Azerbaijan would face serious economic problems. This is exactly why Baku’s past anti-Russian propaganda campaigns have typically ended after five to seven days. Azerbaijan knows how dependent it is on Russia.
— What role does the war in Ukraine play in Azerbaijani propaganda? Has the coverage of Russia’s invasion changed? Has it become more pro-Ukrainian?
— Azerbaijani propaganda media are actually quite pro-Russian. They cover the invasion of Ukraine mostly from Russia’s point of view — and those of us in independent media often criticize them for that. But whenever tensions arise between Azerbaijan and Russia, the propagandists start giving more attention to the Ukrainian side.
Overall, the propaganda media in Azerbaijan try not to criticize Russia over the war. They try to maintain a balance, because Baku still has ties with Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even called Aliyev recently to express support after the police raids in Yekaterinburg. But the propagandists will never say that Russia violated another country’s sovereignty and invaded it — or condemn the actions of the Russian military. They’ve never done that.
Russia remains the center of attention for [Azerbaijani] propaganda because it’s seen as a “strategic partner.” I’m sure that even amid the current crisis, Putin will continue to maintain a friendship with Aliyev. Tomorrow, they’ll meet again, help each other, and do business together. Putin handed Aliyev Stepanakert and withdrew Russian troops from Nagorno-Karabakh. In recent years, Azerbaijan and Russia have really presented themselves as close friends.
— How has civil society responded to the crisis between Russia and Azerbaijan?
— It hasn’t. We have a lot of other problems inside the country that need to be solved right now. Aliyev is arresting journalists. There are already 375 political prisoners in Azerbaijan. There’s no freedom in the country and there’s a lot of social tension. You could say that only people in Baku have any money, while the regions are in very bad shape. One family has held power for 40 years — and this in an oil-rich country.
When authoritarian regimes don’t want to address internal problems, they follow a familiar pattern: they look for enemies, either foreign or domestic. Yesterday it was Armenia, today it’s Russia, tomorrow it’ll be Iran. A couple of months ago, Baku’s relations with Tehran soured — and now they’re friends again.
Azerbaijani civil society doesn’t take part in propaganda campaigns, including the ones targeting Armenians. It’s always opposed the war with Armenia. And that’s exactly why the government is angry with us: we didn’t support the war in Karabakh. That’s why Aliyev destroyed civil society in this country.
