Moscow warns Azerbaijan of planned coup by head of Presidential Administration

It has emerged that Vladimir Putin personally warned Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev of a coup being planned against him by his chief of staff earlier this month, Azerbaijani news agency APA reported on Thursday.

In what is being seen as a further sign of improving relations between Moscow and Baku, Moscow reportedly passed details of a plot by Ramiz Mekhtiyev to seize power in the country. The planned coup was subsequently discussed when Putin met Aliyev on the sidelines of the Russia-Central Asia summit in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe on 9 October.

Mekhtiyev, it is alleged, sought to take advantage of souring relations between Moscow and Baku and informed the Russian authorities “via old contacts” that he was planning to stage a coup d'état and would seek Russia’s support. APA said Mekhtiyev planned to seize power and create a temporary body to manage the transition period, which he planned to head himself.

Within days, Mekhtiyev was arrested and charged with conspiracy to seize power and treason. Azerbaijani news agency Minval reported on Friday that Mekhtiyev had been removed from his post in the Presidential Administration.

The cooperation is further evidence of warming relations between Moscow and Baku following a period of high tension that began when Russian air defences shot down an Azerbaijani passenger plane which then crash landed in the Kazakh city of Aktau in December, killing 38 people. Putin subsequently accepted responsibility.

Bilateral relations then reached a nadir following the death of two Azerbaijani citizens during coordinated Russian police raids in the city of Yekaterinburg in which over 50 people were arrested in late June.

Following the meeting with Putin in Dushanbe earlier this month, Aliyev described his country’s relations with Russia as having developed “successfully” this year, according to Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets.