● Azerbaijan marked Restoration of Independence Day on Sunday. Congratulations were extended to the country by the European Union Delegation, the embassies of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Ukraine, Latvia and the Netherlands, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry and the Organisation of Turkic States.
● Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Azerbaijan on Restoration of Independence Day, writing on X: “We are always united, in sorrow and in joy.”
● On Sunday, Azerbaijan marked the sixth anniversary of taking control of the 13th-century Khudafarin Bridge over the Araz River, near the Azerbaijan–Iran border in the Jabrayil district, during the Second Karabakh War in 2020. Local media recalled that on 18 October 2020, two other historic villages in the same district were also liberated from more than 30 years of Armenian occupation.
● The hacking group “313 Team” has claimed responsibility for DDoS attacks carried out between 13 and 15 October against the information resources of Azerbaijani government agencies, media outlets and foreign diplomatic missions in Azerbaijan. The incident was reported by the National Cybersecurity Agency.
● The ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party announced that it had expelled Ramiz Mehdiyev, the detained former head of the Presidential Administration, from its ranks. He is accused of treason, attempting to seize power by force and laundering criminal proceeds.
● The Prosecutor’s Office announced that the investigation into the cases of detained opposition figures Ali Karimli and Mammad Ibrahim, leaders of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, had been completed. Their case was initially linked to the investigation into Ramiz Mehdiyev, but the proceedings were later separated. Karimli and Ibrahim have also been charged with attempting to seize power by force, an offence punishable by up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment. Both deny the charges and consider their prosecution politically motivated.
● Turkish commentator Celal Çiftçi, who has been placed on Azerbaijan’s international wanted list, has apologised to the Azerbaijani state and people for his publications. He is accused of calling for the violent seizure of power in Azerbaijan and disseminating material inciting religious hatred and enmity. Çiftçi had protested against restrictions on wearing hijabs in Azerbaijani schools and posted on social media a video generated using artificial intelligence, showing an armed man in military uniform knocking over a street sign bearing an image of President Ilham Aliyev. In a post on X, Çiftçi wrote that he had “gone beyond what hehe intended to say” and acknowledged that “decisions about the future of Azerbaijan fall within the competence of the Azerbaijani people and the country’s own constitutional institutions”.
● A book entitled “Factors Creating Serious Difficulties for Students in Azerbaijani-Language Schools in Georgia in Learning Their Native Language” was presented in Tbilisi. Its author is Aygul Isayeva, head of the public organisation Maarif. Among the main problems she identified were the reduction in the number of native-language lessons, the abolition of the graduation examination in the subject, errors in textbook translations and a shortage of qualified teachers. The study notes that the suspension of admissions to the Azerbaijani Language and Literature programme at Ilia State University in 2006 had a negative impact on the training of qualified specialists.
● Mass brawls broke out before and after the Qarabag–Neftchi football match in Baku, and 19 people were detained. The match ended in a high-scoring 3–3 draw. The Disciplinary Committee of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan imposed fines on both clubs and ruled that their next home matches must be played behind closed doors.