Azerbaijani security service kidnaps Russian citizen of Talysh origin  - mass media 

ArmInfo.  The State Security Service of Azerbaijan has kidnapped Russian citizen of Talysh origin Zahiraddin Ibrahimov, OC Media reports.

It is noted that the Talysh historian disappeared on March 26 in  Yekaterinburg. Soon after, his relatives in the Lankaran region in  southern Azerbaijan received a letter from the State Security Service  (SSS) of Azerbaijan, which listed several charges against Ibrahimov,  including treason.

The media recalled that Ibrahimov has been living in Russia for over  twenty years; he received citizenship in 2002. His friend Ali Agayev,  a Talysh blogger living in exile in Sweden, said that they have known  each other since 1989.

The Talysh are the largest ethnic minority in Azerbaijan, with an  estimated population of between 500,000 and one million people. The  Talysh have long fought for their ethnic autonomy and civil rights,  including access to education in the Talysh language.

"Zakhiraddin [Ibragimov] was a member of the opposition Popular Front  party, and I was a member of Musavat [also an opposition party]. He  was a historian and wrote about the history of the Talysh, [and] our  culture," Agayev said.

Ibragimov last tried to visit Azerbaijan in 2014, but was turned away  at Lankaran airport.

According to Russian sources, Ibragimov was one of the founders of  the Talysh Cultural Center, established in 2012. He was also the  founder of the Talysh National Cultural Autonomy of the Sverdlovsk  Region, established in 2021.