Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made an important call at the Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), proposing that in 2026, member countries of the OTS hold a joint military exercise under Azerbaijan’s chairmanship.
Day: October 9, 2025
- Putin says Russian air defenses were to blame for Azerbaijani jet’s crash last year, killing 38 AP News
- Putin admits Russian role in 2024 Azerbaijani jet crash, offers redress Al Jazeera
- 10 Months Later, Russia Admits Deadly Downing of Azerbaijani Plane The New York Times
- Amid Strained Relations With Baku, Putin Admits Russian Role In Azerbaijan Jet Crash Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
- Putin admits Russian air defences downed Azerbaijan Airlines plane in 2024 that killed 38 Euronews.com
- Putin admits Russia shot down Azerbaijan Airlines plane, killing 38 The Independent
- Putin admits Russia shot down Azerbaijani passenger jet, killing 38 Sky News
- Russian Missiles Exploded Near Azerbaijani Plane That Crashed Last Year, Putin Admits The Moscow Times
- Putin admits Russian air defenses downed Azerbaijan Airlines flight last year, killing 38 Meduza
A famous Azerbaijani proverb says that a close neighbor is better than a distant relative. This simple but profound wisdom has guided Azerbaijan’s foreign policy for decades. The country has always aimed to build stable, mutually respectful, and constructive relations with its neighbors. Azerbaijan understands that in a region as strategically complex as the South Caucasus, cooperation with neighboring states is not only a matter of diplomacy but also a matter of national security and economic growth. Unfortunately, there are always some forces that attempt to create divisions between Azerbaijan and its neighbors, seeking to exploit tensions for their own agendas.
Georgia’s State Security Service (SSSG) said on October 9 that it arrested Giorgi Kemoklidze, the former deputy director of the Penitentiary Department of the Special Penitentiary Service, on allegations of staging the beating of Giorgi Bachiashvili, a jailed ex-associate of Bidzina Ivanishvili, in his prison cell.
The announcement came a day after Davit Gogoberishvili, former chief of Tbilisi’s Gldani No. 8 penitentiary facility, where Bachiashvili was reportedly beaten in July, was found dead, in what authorities are investigating as an incitement to suicide. Gogoberishvili and Kemoklidze quit their posts after the Special Penitentiary Service said Bachiashvili’s beating in July may have been coordinated between prison staff, inmates, and Bachiashvili himself.
The agency did not mention Gogoberishvili during the briefing. Kemoklidze was charged with abuse of official power, under Article 332 of the Georgian Criminal Code.
According to Lasha Maghradze, deputy head of the State Security Service (SSSG), Kemoklidze first placed two inmates, without officially registering them, in Bachiashvili’s cell to stage his beating, an attempt that failed. Maghradze said Kemoklidze then placed another inmate in the cell, with whom Bachiashvili initiated an argument that resulted in a “minor physical confrontation.” Investigators claim the operation was intended to substantiate Bachiashvili’s allegations of being attacked in prison and to be later used for domestic and international legal purposes, including a case before the European Court of Human Rights.
Officials said both Kemoklidze and Bachiashvili concealed key details from investigators and the public, including by disabling surveillance cameras and deleting relevant footage from inside the cells.
“Up until yesterday, in the multi-volume criminal case, none of the witnesses had ever mentioned the ten-day placement of the two prisoners,” the agency noted.
The SSSG briefing followed earlier reports from July 11, when Bachiashvili claimed in a public letter that he had been beaten in what he called a “coordinated activity between the prison administration and criminals.” The Special Penitentiary Service later disputed his version, suggesting that Bachiashvili himself, along with prison staff and inmates, may have orchestrated the incident. Bezhan Obgaidze, the head of the penitentiary service, also resigned “with a personal statement” amid the investigation into the incident.
Bachiashvili is serving an 11-year prison sentence after being convicted of embezzling a large sum of cryptocurrency from Bidzina Ivanishvili and laundering it. He was arrested in May following what he said was his abduction from abroad involving State Security Service head Anri Okhanashvili. The alleged abduction followed his escape from Georgia in March, when Bachiashvili cited “credible information” suggesting his life would be in danger if imprisoned.
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