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Deported from Turkey yesterday, journalist, political columnist for "Zerkalo" Rauf Mirkadirov is suspected of treason in his fatherland, the lawyer Fuad Agayev told Turan.

The lawyer noted that the investigator of the Investigation Department for Grave Crimes of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, Ibrahim Lemberanski called him on Sunday. "He said that Mirkadirov is charged under Article 274 - "treason." I asked in what specific form the "treason" was and the investigator said, "Espionage," Agayev said.

The investigator told the lawyer that Mirkadirov wants to be defended by Agayev. Mirkadirov is contained in the MNS jail and the lawyer has not met him yet.

The editor of Zerkalo Elchin Shikhli told Turan pressure on Mirkadirov who lived and worked in Turkey began two weeks ago. "He was suddenly deprived of accreditation. After that, we turned to the Turkish Ambassador in Baku and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Ankara. No response has been received. Moreover, attempts by the lawyer to appeal the withdrawal of the accreditation were not even considered. Rauf was later told that he had to leave Turkey until April 23 and should never come back.”

As the editor noted on April 18, Mirkadirov decided to leave the country and when he was arrested, he told police he was leaving and there was no reason for him to be detained. “However, the authorities of the apparently brotherly country tend to defiantly expel the objectionable journalist from the country," said Shikhli.

As a result Rauf Mirkadirov was detained and deported from Turkey on Friday. He was put on a plane of flight Ankara-Baku at 14:00 by Baku time. Mirkadirov's wife and daughter remained in Turkey. The spouse of the journalist told Turan, that they were taken by the police from the bus with their child and the police checked the documents and took Rauf away. On the question what the matter was, she was told that their documents had expired. "However, we provided documents showing that we have the right to live until the end of the year. Thereafter, the police said that they would sort this out at the police station,” she said.
Later, his wife was told that Mirkadirov was to be deported, however no explanation was given. “" He is in police custody at the moment, and I am not allowed to see him or talk on the phone. I am trying to find the lawyer," said his wife.

As Turan writes, Rauf Mirkadirov has been living in Ankara with his family for three years already and he actively writes on international affairs and has criticized the policies of the Erdogan government in his articles for many times. “There is no doubt that the real reason for his arrest and possible deportation are his journalistic activities. It was not possible to get comments from the Azerbaijani Embassy in Ankara,” the article reads.

The news about Mirkadirov’s arrest was not published immediately. According to the Ankara police, Mirkadirov was put on the Ankara - Baku flight at 14:00. However, despite the fact that the plane arrived in Baku at 16:25, Mirkadirov did not come out of the airport. Journalists who came to the airport to meet Mirkadirov tried to find out anything about the fate of their colleague. But the airline AZAL told them that a passenger named Mirkadirov did not pass the check-in. In the Border Service of the airport they also said that such a passenger did not come to the checkpoint.

“This gives reason to believe that the journalist could be detained right at the aircraft boarding bridge. Previously, there were cases when Azerbaijani citizens deported from Turkey were detained right at the aircraft boarding bridge by security services. Recently Mirkadirov published articles which criticized the policy of the authorities of Turkey, and Azerbaijan,” Turan writes.
Later it turned out that Mirkadirov was detained by the MNS with suspect of treason.

Turan also notes that in February Turkey expelled another Azerbaijani journalist, 27 year-old Mahir Zeynalov. He was a correspondent for the Turkish newspaper Today Zaman. Reason for the deportation served the publication criticizing the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan placed on Twitter.