The first session on “Design, Collections, and Product Development” has taken placeat the Baku Business Center as part of the 2nd International Carpet Forum 2026, AzerNEWS reports.
Month: May 2026
Meydan TV trial in Azerbaijan
A scheduled hearing in the Meydan TV case did not take place today at the Baku Court for Serious Crimes. Journalists instead marked World Press Freedom Day on 3 May by staging a protest, holding placards and chanting slogans.
On 6 December 2024, several Meydan TV staff were detained, including Ramin Deko (Jabrayilzade), Aynur Ganbarova (Elgunesh), Aysel Umudova, Aytaj Akhmedova (Tapdig), Khayala Agayeva and Natig Javadli. They were charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling committed by a group acting in collusion). The case became known as the Meydan TV case.
Later, journalists Shamshad Agha, Nurlan Libre, Fatima Movlamli, Ulviya Ali and Ahmed Mukhtar were also arrested as part of the case.
In August, the charges against the journalists were expanded, with additional counts added.
Meydan TV says the arrests are linked to the journalists’ critical reporting.
During the hearing, only one motion was granted — a request by lawyer Shakhla Gumbatova to be recognised as defence counsel for journalist Shamshad Agha. The judge then announced that the session would be adjourned.
The hearing, chaired by Judge Ayten Aliyeva, was postponed after several defence lawyers arrived late. They said they would be in the courtroom within 15 minutes, but the judge did not take this into account.
The accused journalists then said they were staging a protest ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May and began chanting slogans:
“Freedom is the main artery of the press!”
“Together in freedom and in prison!”
“Words cannot be put in chains!”
“Free speech belongs to us — no prison can contain it!”
“The internet is free, but speech is blocked!”
During the protest, female journalists held up placards, including:
“We are in prison, but our pens are free” — Aysel Umudova
“Free media, free people” — Ulviya Ali
“To speak, not to remain silent, is gold” — Aytaj Tapdig
“Freedom is the main artery of the press” — Khayala Agayeva
The next hearing is scheduled for 22 May.
Meydan TV trial in Azerbaijan
The decision for Azerbaijan to officially sever ties with the European Parliament, a relationship already strained to the breaking point, is a stark manifestation of the deep fractures and institutional crises within the modern system of international relations. Baku’s decisive move is not merely an emotional reaction; it is the logical culmination of a process that has accumulated over years, characterized by systemic bias that has utterly exhausted the potential for constructive dialogue.
Azerbaijan’s currency market has recorded a sustained surplus in recent months, as foreign exchange supply outpaced demand amid a strong current account surplus and ongoing de-dollarization trends, AzerNEWS reports. The development has contributed to a continued increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves, according to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA). The CBA noted that the excess supply in the currency market has been evident across both cash and non-cash segments. The trend has been particularly pronounced in recent foreign exchange auctions, where subdued demand has led to a buildup of surplus liquidity.
Against this backdrop, the central bank conducted purchase-oriented interventions totaling…
Luis Moreno Ocampo on Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani outlet Minval Politika says it has obtained confirmation that former International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has been receiving payments from organisations linked to the Armenian diaspora in Western countries for his regular criticism of Azerbaijan.
Ocampo has repeatedly said that human rights are widely violated in Azerbaijan. He has also claimed that more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians were forcibly displaced from Karabakh.
In a video published by Minval Politika, Ocampo and his son Thomas are seen speaking with an unidentified interlocutor. They discuss what is described as a “favourable price” for influencing European Union institutions, including the European Commission and the European Parliament, with the aim of pushing them to end cooperation with Azerbaijan.
During the conversation, it is claimed that the group includes former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
“We are increasing the pressure, and I intend to do this together with the Armenian lobby in the United States,” Ocampo says in the video.
The discussion then turns to Armenia. The participants speak about plans to “remove” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan from the political scene. “What we need to achieve is to remove Pashinyan,” one of them says in the recording.
Ocampo also says he is receiving support in this effort from organisations linked to Karabakh Armenians. He refers to a “young woman” who is running a related campaign on social media.
Minval Politika says the video is authentic and was not generated using artificial intelligence. The outlet has called on European institutions and the Belgian authorities to investigate.е.
What does the video show?
The central figure in the footage is Luis Moreno Ocampo. His status as a former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court lends additional weight to the claims being made.
In the conversation, Ocampo presents himself as someone with connections that allow him to influence European policy.
He says he can carry out such work “at cost” and notes that a member of his team is a former Member of the European Parliament and, according to the interlocutor, a former legal adviser to Josep Borrell.
According to Ocampo, this person could be used to raise issues in the European Parliament, steer proceedings and apply pressure on Ursula von der Leyen.
This appears to be one of the key political claims in the video.
Ocampo then says that legal proceedings have been initiated within European legal frameworks against Azerbaijan. He claims the aim is to compel the European Commission to terminate its agreement with Azerbaijan, citing human rights concerns.
Another key strand of the video involves Ocampo’s son, Thomas Ocampo.
He describes a meeting with individuals working on issues related to “activists, business figures and Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh”.
Thomas Ocampo says that, amid elections in Armenia, there is “significant instability”, and that in this context the goal is described as “removing Pashinyan”:
“What we need to achieve is the removal of Pashinyan.”
Background
Luis Moreno Ocampo was elected in 2003 by the states parties to the Rome Statute — the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court — as the court’s first prosecutor. He held the post until June 2012, when he was succeeded by Fatou Bensouda.
This role made Ocampo widely known in the field of international law and issues related to war crimes.
In recent years, he has drawn attention for his hardline stance on the Karabakh issue in relation to Azerbaijan.
In 2023, he published a legal opinion describing Azerbaijan’s policy as “genocide”, and has since maintained that position in public statements.
This background helps explain why the video published by Minval Politika has attracted significant political and media attention in Baku.
The video also mentions Josep Borrell, who served as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and as Vice-President of the European Commission from 1 December 2019 to 31 October 2024.
Ursula von der Leyen, also referenced in the video, has been President of the European Commission since 2019 and was re-elected in 2024 for a second term running until 2029.
In this context, the mention of Borrell and von der Leyen goes beyond personal connections.
It points to claims of potential access to key centres of decision-making within the EU — if, as alleged, such channels of influence exist.
Possible implications
First point:
If the video is authentic, it raises questions about lobbying in European institutions, networks of influence and the scope for informal pressure on political decision-making.
Second point:
The recording opens a new debate about the nature of international pressure campaigns around Azerbaijan, particularly those built on human rights arguments.
Third point:
Statements by Thomas Ocampo regarding Nikol Pashinyan could be seen as an attempt at external interference in legitimate political processes within Armenia.
In this context, the issue touches not only on relations between Baku and Yerevan, but also on the European Union’s credibility as a mediator in the region.
Reaction from officials in Azerbaijan
Following the release of the video, a number of politicians and officials in Azerbaijan commented on it. No official statements had been issued at the time of publication.
Sevinj Fataliyeva, an MP and member of the committee on international relations and interparliamentary ties, said that the rhetoric and initiatives of Luis Moreno Ocampo — who presents himself as an international human rights advocate — go beyond the legal sphere and turn his work into “an instrument of open political influence”.
“The discussion in the video of plans to influence European institutions, including weakening or ending cooperation mechanisms with Azerbaijan, points to worrying trends that run counter to the region’s peace agenda. These actions should be seen not as a legal position, but as a deliberate strategy of political pressure.”
She also said it would be more accurate to describe Ocampo as a “hired lawyer”, “as he presents international law in a distorted way on behalf of the Armenian diaspora and lobbying circles”.
Another MP, Parvana Valiyeva, said Ocampo “has long been one of the main figures behind campaigns against Azerbaijan financed by Armenian lobbying structures”, and has acted on their behalf.
Valiyeva added that Azerbaijan remains committed to the peace agenda, and that such external pressure would not derail the peace process in the region.
Luis Moreno Ocampo on Azerbaijan