Z-bloggers demand that pro-Putin political scientist be recognized as a foreign agent for his praise of Aliyev

Amid the worsening Russian-Azerbaijani relations, a number of Z-bloggers have called for pro-Kremlin political scientist Sergei Markov, who praised Ilham Aliyev in front of Azerbaijani journalists in Shushi, to be declared a foreign agent. In response, Markov recalled that he has been "a supporter of Putin for all 26 years."

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, at a meeting with participants of the III Shusha Global Media Forum, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced the preparation of documents to file lawsuits in international courts regarding the crash of the AZAL plane, since Russia has not admitted guilt and has not punished those responsible for the deaths. In response, the press secretary of the Russian president said that Moscow hopes for an improvement in Russian-Azerbaijani relations. Azerbaijan's threat to file lawsuits against Russia creates a negative background for bilateral relations, but does not exclude the possibility of reaching a political compromise in the near future, analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.  

On July 21, Z-bloggers drew attention to a comment by pro-Kremlin political scientist Sergei Markov, which the latter gave to journalists during a media forum in Shusha. While waiting for the head of Azerbaijan to speak, Markov spoke complimentarily about him, calling Ilham Aliyev a "brilliant intellectual".

"Without a doubt, he is one of the most experienced leaders in the modern world. The leader who represents the victorious country. There are not many countries that have won the war outright and fully established control and liberated the territory of Karabakh. Many leaders would like to know from him what is the secret of victory? We also want to ask these questions to the president. And he, as we know, is a very wise, competent, correct leader,” Markov said in a video distributed by the state news agency “AzerTaj”.

After such praise for the Azerbaijani leader, Z-bloggers demanded that Markov be recognized as a foreign agent: this initiative was put forward by writer Roman Antonovsky, supported by the author of the Zergulio channel Sergey Kolyasnikov, blogger Vladislav Pozdnyakov and the founder of the Telegram channel Alex Parker Returns. The latter, in particular, said that Markov “is not embarrassed to work off the money of Azerbaijanis,” Lenta.ru writes.

The comments criticizing Markov, whom Z-bloggers accused of “vile collaborationism,” contain insults against the president of Azerbaijan, including on ethnic grounds, according to a publication by the channel “Beware, News.”

Markov himself responded to the accusations on the evening of July 21, stating that Z-bloggers “directly help Russia’s enemies, in particular, the British intelligence services and Zelensky.” “Azerbaijan is not an untouchable pariah with which it is impossible to cooperate. Cooperation in all areas practically continues,” RTVI quotes him as saying.

In his personal Telegram channel, the political scientist generally repeated his thesis about “helping enemies,” calling his critics marginal. “Political scientist Markov has been a supporter of Putin for all 26 years. Sergei Markov has always been a patriot of Russia. Sergei Markov has always been with the Russian people. Political scientist Markov is not just a supporter of Putin, but one of the most prominent, direct and convincing supporters of Putin. Everyone knows this. (...) He even fell under Western sanctions several times,” wrote Sergei Markov about himself.

Materials about the deterioration of relations between the two states have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "The collapse of ties between Baku and Moscow".

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