Araz Aliyev Prevented from Taking His Mother Abroad for Medical TreatmentTravel Ban Discovered at the Airport

Araz Aliyev, a founding member of the Third Republic Platform, has been barred from taking his ailing mother abroad for medical treatment.

Aliyev shared the news himself, stating that on July 7, while attempting to travel with his mother to a foreign country for treatment, he was informed at the airport that a travel ban had been placed on him:

“The Azerbaijani state seems determined to let my mother die before my eyes. She has been battling cancer for six months.
She underwent major surgery and is currently receiving chemotherapy. However, due to the ‘professionalism’ of the Azerbaijani healthcare system, her treatment has had no positive results.
Her condition has deteriorated in recent days — her blood levels are not improving, and no one is giving us a reasonable explanation. I had no choice but to urgently take her abroad. But at the airport, I learned that a ‘stop’ had been placed on me, preventing me from leaving the country.
I am not under any criminal investigation, nor have I been charged in any case. The reason and purpose of the ban remain unclear to me.”

Aliyev said his mother had no option but to travel without him:

“You’ve already ruined my education, took away my job, and jailed me for 25 days. Was that not enough?
Now you want to prove something by letting my mother die in front of me?
Because of this travel ban, I had to return home from the airport, and my mother — a stage-three cancer patient — was forced to travel alone.
This is her first time flying, and she’s doing it without me.
Everyone I call either tells me to ‘wait’ or doesn’t answer at all.
No one offers a clear explanation. What is their problem? What do they want?”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not commented on the incident.

Araz Aliyev was previously detained in December 2023, shortly after the Third Republic Platform was publicly announced. He was sentenced to 25 days of administrative detention on charges of “petty hooliganism” and “disobedience to police orders.”

Following his detention, he was dismissed from his position as a lecturer at Baku State University.

Aliyev has maintained that the charges against him were fabricated. He claims he was violently detained while walking in the street and taken to a police station, where he was questioned about the platform’s funding and activities.