Aliyev started purges in Nakhichevan

The detention of the head of the local Ministry of Finance was connected with the “Zangezur corridor”

Azerbaijani security forces took on the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic bordering Turkey. Customs officials were detained there, and on Monday the head of the local Finance Ministry, Rafael Aliyev, was arrested. The expert connects this with the agreements between Ankara and Baku on facilitating customs procedures.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is from Nakhichevan. For a long time, the exclave was considered untouchable. Corruption and clanism flourished there, the republic was not always subordinate to officials from Baku. Last year, two ministers were arrested there on suspicion of embezzlement: ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Akhmed Akhmedov and former Minister of Education Mammad Garibov.

This year, customs officials are being imprisoned, and today the head of the Ministry of Finance, Rafael Aliyev, has been arrested. He is accused of abuse of power and embezzlement of 144 million manats ($85 million) of state funds. He was taken into custody for 4 months. Whether the detainee is a relative of the president or just a namesake is not specified.

The Zangezur Corridor, which will unite Europe with Asia, must pass through the republic. “The route Zangezur corridor – Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic – Turkey – Europe will allow exporting “green” electricity. We have already started work in this direction,” Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz said. Perhaps this is the reason for the “cleansing” of the region from corrupt officials. We talked about this with political scientist Ilgar Velizade:

– Judging by the official information, very serious work is being carried out. The fact is that the processes began with the customs committee. Now, apparently, we are talking about offenses in structures related to the financial sector. This logical chain continues.

– Why did it all start with the customs sphere?

– I believe that we are talking about the fact that in recent years a lot of decisions have been made on facilitating customs procedures between Azerbaijan and Turkey. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic has become a bottleneck, the only place where the land border between the two countries passes. Therefore, the issue of optimizing customs and border procedures began with her. And then the process of “cleansing” was launched, and the departments involved were also under suspicion.

– Does Rafael Aliyev have any relation to the president?

– Aliyev is a very common surname, like in Russia, for example, Ivanov. I don’t think they are related.