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AZERBAIJAN ARRESTS FOUR SUSPECTED OF RECRUITING MILITANTS TO FIGHT IN SYRIA
Big News Network
March 12 2015
RFE Thursday 12th March, 2015
Security authorities in Azerbaijan have arrested four men on suspicion
of recruiting Azerbaijani nationals to fight in Syria, pro-government
media have reported.
The and Apa.az news sites cited the Interior Ministry and
Prosecutor-General's Office on March 11 as sources for the reports,
according to which the four suspects -- Zyulfugar Ibragimov, Mubariz
Mirozoyev, Shamseddin Abdullazadze, and Vyugar Aliyev -- were all
arrested in the Tatar district of Azerbaijan, most of which is under
the de facto control of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The pro-government Azerbaijani news reports said the authorities
had been approached by a resident of the Tatar region, who told them
that his son had been recruited by members of a "radical religious
movement." The son had later been sent to Syria to fight alongside
militants, his father claimed, according to the news reports.
The reports did not mention which group or groups the suspects are
alleged to have recruited for, however.
According to the reports, an investigation into the Tatar district
resident's claims "exposed an extremist organized crime group" who had
been recruiting individuals from the district to armed groups in Syria.
A search of the suspects' apartments uncovered several weapons
and ammunition, including an automatic rifle, explosives, and
hand grenades. The authorities also allegedly discovered a large
collection of religious literature and CDs with prohibited material,
the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and Prosecutor-General's Office said.
In a surprising development, the head of the Karabakh Liberation
Organization, an Azerbaijani organization whose objective is the
liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, said that two of the
arrested men were members of his group.
Akif Naghi said that Ibragimov and Aliyev were not members of any
extremist religious sect, according to the . He said that he believed
the detention of the two men was unreasonable, and that he had made
an appeal to the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor-General's Office
regarding their arrest.
Naghi reportedly said that Ibragimov and Aliyev were either "victims
of some intrigue or victims of an apparent war on extremism that the
security authorities want to demonstrate." He did not mention the
other two arrested suspects, Abdullazadze and Mirozoyev.
There did not appear to be any reports on March 12 of any immediate
response from the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry or Prosecutor-General's
Office regarding Naghi's claims.
The news of the arrests of four Azerbaijanis suspected of recruitment
of militants comes a month after reports of the deaths of two
Azerbaijani Islamic State militants in Syria.
Fariz Dostaliyev, a resident of the village of Sangachal, south of
Baku, was reported killed in February, some days after reports of the
death of another Azerbaijani man, Ismail Ismailov from the Khachmaz
district in northeastern Azerbaijan.
It is not known how many Azerbaijanis are fighting in Syria. Estimates
in news reports have ranged from 200 to 300.
The largest group of Azerbaijani foreign fighters in Syria is likely
fighting for IS. In May, the leader of an Azerbaijani IS faction in
Raqqa, Mohammad al-Azeri, gave a video address in which he stated
that IS was on the "correct path of jihad" in Syria.
-- Joanna Paraszczuk
http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/231020403
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Big News Network
March 12 2015
RFE Thursday 12th March, 2015
Security authorities in Azerbaijan have arrested four men on suspicion
of recruiting Azerbaijani nationals to fight in Syria, pro-government
media have reported.
The and Apa.az news sites cited the Interior Ministry and
Prosecutor-General's Office on March 11 as sources for the reports,
according to which the four suspects -- Zyulfugar Ibragimov, Mubariz
Mirozoyev, Shamseddin Abdullazadze, and Vyugar Aliyev -- were all
arrested in the Tatar district of Azerbaijan, most of which is under
the de facto control of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The pro-government Azerbaijani news reports said the authorities
had been approached by a resident of the Tatar region, who told them
that his son had been recruited by members of a "radical religious
movement." The son had later been sent to Syria to fight alongside
militants, his father claimed, according to the news reports.
The reports did not mention which group or groups the suspects are
alleged to have recruited for, however.
According to the reports, an investigation into the Tatar district
resident's claims "exposed an extremist organized crime group" who had
been recruiting individuals from the district to armed groups in Syria.
A search of the suspects' apartments uncovered several weapons
and ammunition, including an automatic rifle, explosives, and
hand grenades. The authorities also allegedly discovered a large
collection of religious literature and CDs with prohibited material,
the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and Prosecutor-General's Office said.
In a surprising development, the head of the Karabakh Liberation
Organization, an Azerbaijani organization whose objective is the
liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, said that two of the
arrested men were members of his group.
Akif Naghi said that Ibragimov and Aliyev were not members of any
extremist religious sect, according to the . He said that he believed
the detention of the two men was unreasonable, and that he had made
an appeal to the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor-General's Office
regarding their arrest.
Naghi reportedly said that Ibragimov and Aliyev were either "victims
of some intrigue or victims of an apparent war on extremism that the
security authorities want to demonstrate." He did not mention the
other two arrested suspects, Abdullazadze and Mirozoyev.
There did not appear to be any reports on March 12 of any immediate
response from the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry or Prosecutor-General's
Office regarding Naghi's claims.
The news of the arrests of four Azerbaijanis suspected of recruitment
of militants comes a month after reports of the deaths of two
Azerbaijani Islamic State militants in Syria.
Fariz Dostaliyev, a resident of the village of Sangachal, south of
Baku, was reported killed in February, some days after reports of the
death of another Azerbaijani man, Ismail Ismailov from the Khachmaz
district in northeastern Azerbaijan.
It is not known how many Azerbaijanis are fighting in Syria. Estimates
in news reports have ranged from 200 to 300.
The largest group of Azerbaijani foreign fighters in Syria is likely
fighting for IS. In May, the leader of an Azerbaijani IS faction in
Raqqa, Mohammad al-Azeri, gave a video address in which he stated
that IS was on the "correct path of jihad" in Syria.
-- Joanna Paraszczuk
http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/231020403
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress