What is happening in Nakhchivan?

Baku/29.11.22/Turan: Minister of Finance of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) Rafael Aliyev was arrested in connection with the operations carried out by the State Security Service in the Nakhchivan Customs Committee (NCC) and the initiated case under  the Article 179.4 of the Criminal Code (Embezzlement  committed with causing particularly large damage).

So, a few days ago, the State Customs Service carried out operational activities in the Customs Committee (CC) of the NAR, as a result of which a number of high-ranking officials were brought to justice and arrested.

In a criminal case, the head of the Department for Adjusting Customs Tariffs and Payments of the CC NAR Askerov Mansur Turan oglu was also detained. Rafael Aliyev held this position until August 2020.

On November 26, the Sabail District Court of Baku, chaired by Judge Ulviya Shukurova, arrested NAR Finance Minister Rafael Aliyev for a four-month investigation period. Rafael Aliyev is accused of abuse of office and embezzlement of public funds in the amount of 144 million manats. On November 24, the Sabail District Court of Baku decided to elect Mansur Askerov, head of the NAR CC department, who was charged with embezzlement of 132 million manats, with a maximum preventive measure of arrest for a period of 4 months.

What is happening in recent days in Nakhchivan has become the subject of discussion of the country's media.

Deputy chairman of the Umid party, journalist Elman Abbasov  commented on the arrests in Nackhchivan in the "Difficult Question" program.

According to him, due to the fact that information from Nakhchivan has always been scarce, the events taking place in the autonomy are overgrown with details that do not correspond to reality, and are distorted.

According to Abbasov's information, not only the Minister of Finance and the head of the department of the Labor Code of the NAR were detained in the NAR, but the offspring of the Chairman of the Supreme Majlis of the NAR Vasif Talybov were also interrogated. There are also officials who were detained and taken to Baku, where they were interrogated.

According to him, the authorities of Nakhchivan abused their family relations with the leadership of Azerbaijan. “Having established the feudal order in the NAR, they violated the rights of citizens, engaged in smuggling, established a monopoly in the field of entrepreneurship,” the journalist emphasized, adding that

“Practically all business in Nakhchivan worked for the Talybovs. And those who dared to oppose arbitrariness were subjected to repression.

Abbasov also noted that after the abolition of the customs committee of the NAR, restrictions were introduced at checkpoints for residents of the autonomy to cross the Azerbaijani-Turkish border. That is, people can enter Turkey no more than once every 15 days. Vehicles are banned from crossing the border.

"There is an impression that there is a redistribution of the sphere of influence between the clans," Abbasov believes. –0—