The spy scandal in Azerbaijan takes shape

Baku/08.01.24/Turan: The pro-government media of Azerbaijan on Monday reported the name of one of the "French spies" arrested in Baku. It turned out to be one of the heads of the private company “Merkorama,” Martin Ryan.

It is noteworthy that the pro-government media point to the publication on Twitter of the French journalist of Armenian origin Leo Nikolyan as the source of this information. The State Security Service of Azerbaijan has not reported anything on this matter. The French Embassy in Baku also did not make any statements after accusations of espionage against its citizens.

“Merkorama” LLC is an Azerbaijani company based in Baku (Azerbaijan) founded in October 2020. A small company “Merkorama", provide a wide range of solutions and services for businesses, both local and foreign, already present or in the process of setting up in Azerbaijan, wishing to outsource part of their activities (IT solutions, accounting, legal support, translation).

It has been based in Baku since October 2020 and specializes in the import of food and raw materials. Judging by the data on social networks, there were no more than 10 people in this company, mostly Azerbaijani citizens.

As for Martin Ryan, very little is known about him. In 2021, in an interview with a French publication Caucasefrance.com he criticized the policy of President Macron's government towards Azerbaijan.

In particular, he said that the diplomatic crisis in relations between Baku and Paris had deprived French companies of the opportunity to participate in major projects in the liberated territories in Karabakh.  He also noted that President Macron, unlike his predecessors, has never visited Azerbaijan since coming to power in 2017.  "The countries that, unlike us, even provided restrained support to Azerbaijan during the conflict are already in good positions and are strengthening their presence in the country more every day," Ryan said.

He also called on the Pashinyan government to start a direct dialogue with Baku and sign a peace treaty, recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, open borders with Azerbaijan and Turkiye, which will become Armenia's investors and leading trading partners. All this will help solve the problem of Armenia's regional isolation and free it from dependence on the foreign diaspora, Ryan noted. -0-