Turning Against Russia and Accusations Against the National Council of Connections with Kremlin

Azerbaijani pro-government media have unleashed an unexpected wave of anti-Russian rhetoric, including claims of espionage at the "Russian House" and accusations that the opposition National Council has ties with Moscow. Chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces Jamil Hasanli dismissed the allegations as baseless, describing them as part of a smear campaign by the government to shift attention from its own close ties with the Kremlin.

Hasanl said the claims of a letter from his organization to Russian President Vladimir Putin were fabricated. "Since its founding in 2013, the National Council has been steadfast in opposing Putin's policies. Our guiding principle is European integration," he said during an appearance on the program "Difficult Question."

The opposition leader accused Azerbaijani authorities of resorting to misinformation in times of political difficulty. "Whenever there's a crisis, the government blames the National Council. Yet, it is they who have maintained a close relationship with Putin's regime, praising him as a guarantor of their power and proclaiming Azerbaijan-Russia brotherhood," Hasanli said.

He pointed to the February 2022 signing of the Declaration on Allied Interaction between Azerbaijan and Russia in Moscow as evidence of President Ilham Aliyev's alignment with Putin. Additionally, Hasanli highlighted an October 2024 visit to Baku by Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), during which discussions focused on countering Western intelligence activities. A subsequent SVR statement emphasized joint efforts to identify and neutralize "hostile aspirations" from foreign intelligence services.

Hasanli argued that the recent anti-Russian rhetoric is a calculated attempt by the Azerbaijani government to appeal to the West, particularly in anticipation of a potentially anti-Russian stance by a future U.S. administration. "The fabricated claims about the National Council are a message to the West: 'We are not Putin's friends—they are (the opposition) ," he said.

"The letter from the National Council to Putin is a fake," Hasanli insisted, accusing the government of political manipulation in a bid to deflect criticism.

Azerbaijani officials have not commented on Hasanli's remarks or the allegations made in pro-government media.