Day: February 24, 2026

Gultakin Hajibayli, a member of the Coordination Board of the National Council, was deported from Turkey to Azerbaijan on February 12. The deportation was carried out during the night hours.
The initial information was shared on social media by Fuad Gahramanli, deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan People’s Front Party. According to him, Hajibayli is already in Azerbaijan and is currently free.
Gultakin Hajibayli has not yet been summoned for investigation, and no preventive measures have been imposed against her.
Detained in Turkey as a “threat to national security”
 On the night of November 29–30 last year, Gultakin Hajibayli was taken from her home in Istanbul by police and later placed in the Catalca Deportation Center. The G-82 code was applied to her in Turkey.
Hajibayli shared on her social media account that the Ankara court had filed charges against her under G-82, which refers to membership in a foreign terrorist organization that poses a threat to state security.
According to Turkish law, the G-82 restriction code is applied to foreign nationals alleged to act against national security. This code prohibits the person from entering Turkey and allows for indefinite deportation if they are already in the country.
Hajibayli said this decision was politically motivated and that he would be arrested if returned to Azerbaijan.
Linked to “coup attempt” allegations
 In recent months, pro-government media in Azerbaijan have mentioned Gultakin Hajibayli’s name alongside AXCP leader Ali Karimli as allegedly involved in a plan for a state coup with Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former head of the Presidential Administration.
Ali Karimli, chairman of the Azerbaijan People’s Front Party, and party board member Mammad Ibrahim were detained by the State Security Service on November 29 last year.
On December 1, they were charged under Article 278.1 of the Criminal Code – actions aimed at forcibly seizing power and forcibly changing the constitutional order of the state. On the same day, the Sabail District Court ordered their pretrial detention.

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Ahead of the visit of U.S. Vice President James David Vance to Baku, calls addressed to him for the release of political prisoners held in Azerbaijan are continuing.
Two Democratic members of the U.S. Senate have appealed to Vice President James David Vance regarding journalists imprisoned in Azerbaijan before his planned visit to Baku.
The senators are calling on Vance to address with Azerbaijani officials the release of Farid Mehralizadeh, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty staffer, and Ulviyya Ali (Guliyeva), who has worked with Voice of America.
In a post shared on the platform “X,” Jeanne Shaheen, a leading member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated that during his visit to Baku, Vance should demand the release of economist Gubad Ibadoghlu, who is said to have been unjustly detained, journalists Farid Mehralizadeh and Ulviyya Ali, as well as media expert Alasgar Mammadli.
Another senator, Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Budget and Foreign Relations Committees, in a letter addressed to the vice president, drew attention to the arrests of Ulviyya Ali and Farid Mehralizadeh, who worked with U.S.-affiliated media outlets, and called for intensified efforts to secure their immediate release.
Van Hollen noted that these journalists should not be accused of any illegal acts and were punished solely for working with media organizations supported by the United States. He emphasized that Ulviyya Ali was subjected to violence during her detention and suffered health problems, while Farid Mehralizadeh was unable to be with his family at the moment his first child was born. The senator also recalled that Mehralizadeh’s wife, Nargiz Mukhtarova, is currently facing another criminal case.
“Such treatment of independent journalists and their families is neither morally acceptable nor appropriate for a country that claims partnership with the United States. These actions undermine trust, violate human dignity, and do not serve peace in the region. People should not be held hostage because of their ties to the United States. Ulviyya Ali and Farid Mehralizadeh should not be in prison for crimes they did not commit; they should be with their families. I ask you to take a firm stance in meetings with Azerbaijani officials to secure their release,” the letter states.
Members of the U.S. Congress from Virginia—Congressman James Walkinshaw and Senator Tim Kaine—have also sent a letter to Vance ahead of his planned visit to Azerbaijan. The letter asks Vance to raise with Azerbaijani authorities the arrest of economist Gubad Ibadoghlu and the overall human rights situation in Azerbaijan. The appeal was also signed by Senator Mark Warner and Congress members Bobby Scott, Don Beyer, Jennifer McClellan, Suhas Subramanyam, and Eugene Vindman.
The international human rights organization Freedom House also shared a post on its “X” account, calling on the vice president to raise the issue of releasing all political prisoners, including economist Gubad Ibadoghlu and journalists Farid Mehralizadeh and Ulviyya Ali, during his visit to Baku.
“All political prisoners must be released immediately and unconditionally. #FreeThemAll,” the post emphasized.
U.S. Congressman and Democrat Jim McGovern had earlier called on Vance to undertake diplomatic efforts to secure the release of prisoners of conscience as part of his visit to Baku.
The journalists mentioned, along with dozens of other media representatives and civic activists currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan, are accused of various crimes, but they consider these charges fabricated and say their arrests are linked to their critical activities. Official bodies, however, claim that there are no politically motivated arrests in the country, that all fundamental rights are ensured, and that these individuals are being held accountable for specific criminal acts. According to human rights defenders, there are currently about 340 political prisoners in Azerbaijani prisons.
Vance is expected to arrive in Baku today, February 10. A day earlier, on February 9, he held official meetings in Yerevan. It was announced that documents related to cooperation between the United States and Armenia in the nuclear field and the sale of drones were signed.
According to official information, the regional visit is being carried out within the framework of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace initiatives and the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP).
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Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. is preparing to inform investors that it will review a new takeover bid from Paramount Skydance Corp., while continuing to endorse its existing agreement with Netflix, according to a report by Variety citing sources familiar with the matter, AzerNEWS reports, citing foreign media.

Estonian Ambassador to Georgia Marge Mardisalu-Kahar was summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry on February 24 following a social media post by the Embassy expressing support for Ilia State University (IliaUni), Georgia’s leading academic institution, which is facing significant cuts under controversial higher education reforms.

On February 22, the Estonian Embassy in Tbilisi published a post on Facebook, showing the Ambassador alongside Ilia University’s Rector Nino Doborjginidze, with a caption: “We stand with Ilia State University.” The post followed Georgian authorities’ announcement of a reshuffle of Georgian public universities under the “one city – one faculty” principle of the ongoing reform, a plan expected to leave Tbilisi’s Ilia University, the most outspoken of them, without most of its popular and highly rated programs.

Ambassador Mardisalu-Kahar was “invited” to the ministry “regarding her social media post concerning one of Georgian universities,” the MFA said in its press release. The Ministry said that during a meeting with Georgian Dream’s Deputy Foreign Minister Giorgi Zurabashvili, the ambassador was “asked to provide clarification regarding the purpose of such action.”

Zurabashvili “underscored that such action by the Estonian Ambassador is directed towards politicization of the ongoing reform in the education field, which is unacceptable and constitutes interference in the internal affairs of the country,” the Ministry said.

According to the press release, “the ambassador was informed that, should the Estonian side be interested in the ongoing education reform in Georgia, it has the opportunity to hold consultations with the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia, where it will receive exhaustive information on the matter.”

The summons comes amid continued diplomatic tensions between Tbilisi and its former Western allies.

It emerged in mid-February that Mardisalu-Kahar, who was appointed as Ambassador in Georgia in 2024, will end her mission on March 10 and move to Yerevan as ambassador to Armenia, while chargé d’affaires Gita Kalmet will lead the embassy in Tbilisi until a new ambassador is appointed.

Also Read:

• 25/09/2025 – Georgian Foreign Ministry Summons British Ambassador Gareth Ward
• 24/09/2025 – Georgian Foreign Ministry Summons German Ambassador Peter Fischer
• 17/09/2025  – GD Attacks Western Ambassadors After Pro-Gov’t Media Alleges Opposition Meetings