A French businessman, accused of espionage, was arrested in December in Azerbaijan, a few days after the mutual expulsion of diplomats from the two countries against a backdrop of strong bilateral tensions. “Suspected of having committed acts of espionage, Martin Ryan (…) was arrested on December 4,” Leyla Abdullayeva, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Paris, told AFP.
“Later, the courts ordered his detention for a period of four months,” she explained, stressing that “the French embassy in Baku (had) been informed by a verbal note” and that he had received consular visits “on several occasions”.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that it considered “this detention to be arbitrary” and requested his “release without delay”. The affair, which leaked a few days ago to online media, particularly in Azerbaijan, comes as relations worsen between Paris and Baku.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev criticizes France for supporting Armenia in the conflict between Yerevan and Baku. In November, he accused Paris of “preparing the ground for a new war” in the Caucasus by “arming” Armenia, after the announcement of the sale to Yerevan of French equipment for its ground-to-air defense.
For its part, Paris had accused actors linked to Azerbaijan of having led a manipulation campaign aimed at damaging France’s reputation before the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Like a pawn”
In December, tensions rose a notch with the mutual expulsion of two diplomats. A case that the father of the detained Frenchman, Richard Ryan, considers linked to his arrest although his son has expressed pro-Baku positions. “We spoke with him four times, each time for two minutes. He says that he is treated well and that he gets along well with his lawyer,” he explained to AFP. “Once, he told me: ‘They wanted to use me as a pawn’.”
On May 17, 2021, the businessman signed an open letter with other French people residing in Azerbaijan to President Emmanuel Macron, which “received no action,” according to him. The signatories demanded “strong gestures” for “the normalization of Franco-Azerbaijani relations”, undermined “by extremely clumsy and biased declarations” from French diplomacy deemed pro-Armenian.
In another letter sent in January 2023 to Anne Genetet, deputy for the 11th constituency of French people living abroad (Asia, Oceania and Eastern Europe), the entrepreneur, specializing in the importation and distribution of food products, had again denounced the French position.
“Radical elements of the Armenian diaspora in France are tirelessly leading a real anti-Azerbaijan campaign and spreading false propaganda,” he wrote, regretting that the image of France has “considerably deteriorated” in Azerbaijan, to the detriment of French interests.
On Tuesday, his court-appointed lawyer, Me Nizami Aliyev, claimed that his client had been in contact with French people there who he later learned were “agents” of French intelligence. “Martin is not an agent,” he declared, while assuring that the matter was “not political.” He faces a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison.
A 30-year conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan
For 30 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, have been in a territorial conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Last September, Baku led a lightning offensive there leading to the capitulation of Armenian separatists. Almost the entire Armenian population of the region – more than 100,000 people out of 120,000 – has since fled to Armenia.
The two neighbors had already clashed during two wars for control of this enclave, one between 1988 and 1994, the other in the fall of 2020. Baku and Yerevan recently announced their desire to normalize their relations but the talks are making little progress.
In this matter, France, host to a large Armenian diaspora, has said it is ready to participate in mediation efforts, while displaying its unwavering support for Armenia which fears the violation of its territorial integrity.