Letter to President Trump 2/4/2026

President Donald Trump

White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As an American citizen and the director of the Congress of Iranian

Turks in Exile, I would like to bring some information about the situation

in the Republic of Azerbaijan to your attention, which could directly affect

the fate of the Middle East and, especially, the South Caucasus.

My twenty years of researching and teaching American history and the

Constitution in Iranian universities taught me that in a democratic country,

participating in the process of leaders’ decision-making is not only a

privilege but a national duty. Knowing you have worlds by far the best

intelligence system at your disposal, but still, I feel my duty to share my

thoughts with the Vice President of the most capable, pure American, and

sincere  nationalistic administration, our history has seen

I will explain the issues in five  parts:

Political Situation in Azerbaijan

1 - Geopolitics

2 - Dictatorship and Police Rule

3 - Unparalleled Financial Corruption

4 – Severe economic pressure to public

5 - Aliyev Family Mafia

1 - Geopolitics

Currently, a de facto family rule is established in Azerbaijan. All power

structures serve the Aliyev family.

For this reason, Aliyev has recently officially signed alliance agreements

with authoritarian and totalitarian regimes like Russia and China.

First with Russia, and then, after Russia's weakness became apparent due

to its aggression against Ukraine, Aliyev signed a strategic partnership pact

with China. Now, relations between Azerbaijan and China have

significantly expanded in strategic  and geopolitical areas.

One of the most dangerous aspects of this cooperation is the visa waiver

for Chinese citizens entering Azerbaijan.

This action alone makes all efforts by the free world, especially the United

States, to transform the South Caucasus into a safe region, free from

Chinese spies who have poured into Azerbaijan in the guise of tourists,

teachers, and masseurs, impossible.

President Aliyev, with a weak, cowardly, and opportunistic personality,

who, aware of his lack of national popularity, has signed a strategic and

geopolitical partnership with Russia and China, cannot play a positive role

in strengthening America's position in the South Caucasus.

More than two million young Azerbaijanis are forced to work as laborers

in Russia to support their families in Azerbaijan. To what extent does

Putin's intelligence apparatus exploit the presence of these young people in

need of work and security for intelligence-gathering or for missions

beyond that?

Ilhan Aliyev, by hiring a few agents from South Azerbaijan (Iran) and

luring the youth to renew the rule of the Pishevari (Agents of Stalin who

tried to separate the North of Iran by establishing a local Communist

government in December 1945), and to revive the communist government

and Stalin's puppet. All his agents in North Iran are working fraudulently

under the cover of the name of Turks to deceive the Turks of Iran, who

constitute more than forty percent of the country’s population.

Everyone in Iran knows that Azerbaijani activists, without any hesitation,

are calling for the renewal of the rule of the Pishevari and Stalin

experience in Iran under the names and titles of deceptive organizations.

Hopefully, after deposing the current regime, we need a democratic Iran,

with equality for all ethnicities, absolutely  siding with the free world,

particularly the United States of America.

2 - Dictatorship and Police Rule

The Azerbaijani government plays an important role in Russia's access to

the south via Iran. Russia has serious cooperation with the Aliyev regime

on the North-South corridor that passes through Azerbaijan.

The Russian government attaches great importance to this project.

Ilham Aliyev, who holds the presidency, is primarily concerned with

consolidating family rule. For this purpose, a North Korea-style regime has

been established within the country.

All free media outlets have been eliminated. Currently, 23 journalists are

imprisoned in Azerbaijan.

In total, there are 350 political prisoners in the country. The worst recent

event is the illegal, unethical, and biased arrest of the pro-Western

opposition leader of the Azerbaijan Popular Front (AXCP), Ali Karimli,

who attaches special importance to relations with the United States.

This arrest is a very serious step by Aliyev towards creating a totalitarian

society in Azerbaijan. In the Republic of Azerbaijan, no legal gathering is

allowed, unless it is in flattery of the dictator; no protest is permitted.

Any protest or expression of dissatisfaction with living conditions and

difficult economic circumstances is severely suppressed, and protesters are

imprisoned, tortured, and tormented with fabricated and engineered

charges, or  somebody in his/her family gets killed in a preplanned, hit and

run car accident, with police cooperation.

An important question arises: How will the relationship between

democratic Armenia and Aliyev, who has openly established a totalitarian

regime in his own country, be?

It should be noted that Ilham Aliyev has closed Azerbaijan's land borders

under the pretext of COVID-19. This is also considered a very serious step

towards turning the country into North Korea.

The Azerbaijani government has no interest in the existence of democratic

regimes in the region.

Precisely for this reason, the Azerbaijani government has not yet signed

any agreements similar to those it has with China and Russia, with the free

world, especially with the United States.

According to a law passed at the end of last year, military forces, along

with the police, will participate in suppressing widespread protests.

Instead of implementing reforms, the Aliyev regime intends to resort to

force more often.

A largely Stalinist-style regime has been established in Azerbaijan.

Free media and independent non-governmental organizations have been

practically destroyed.

Opposition leader Ali Karimli has been arrested on fabricated charges.

Political activity is practically impossible. A de facto one-party

dictatorship has been established in the country.

Without any judicial order, state-controlled media labels protesters and

critics of the regime as "traitors" and opponents are insulted in a very

offensive manner.

Courts consistently issue illegal verdicts in political cases. Torture, in the

style of the KGB under Stalin, has become commonplace.

In 2017, Azerbaijani soldiers and officers were subjected to horrific torture

under accusations of collaborating with Armenians (although these

accusations were never confirmed), and at least 11 military personnel died

as a result of the torture.

The forced confession of opponents to crimes they did not commit has

become a normal and daily occurrence, and defendants agree to any

confession to save the lives of their loved ones from planned accidents or

the kidnapping of their daughters. Azerbaijan is practically run by a police

state.

Ilham Aliyev has granted extensive powers to the security forces. The

country is governed not by law, but by Aliyev's feudal rule.

All elections and referendums have been falsified in favor of the interests

of one family.

The results of the 2016 referendum were clearly manipulated.

Nevertheless, Ilham Aliyev, for the first time in the world, appointed his

wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, as First Vice-President.

3 – Unparalleled Financial Corruption

The country is governed by the constitution, but in practice it is run

according to the orders of Ilham and Mehriban Aliyev.

These two individuals have precisely transformed Azerbaijan into one of

the most repressive and corrupt regimes in the world.

In 2012, Ilham Aliyev ranked 154th out of 180 countries in the Corruption

Perceptions Index. And Ilham Aliyev was named the "most corrupt person

of the year" in the world.

In 2021, a network of journalistic investigations found that Ilham Aliyev

Purchased a $694 million in property in London alone.

The existence of the Aliyev family properties in Dubai, valued at hundreds

of millions of dollars, has long been proven.

In Azerbaijan, corruption has become a method of governance.

Ilham Aliyev's wife and First Vice-President, Mehriban Aliyeva, is the

head of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

This foundation implements projects of various natures in different

countries around the world, and through complex covers, it manages

billions of dollars of the bread money of Azerbaijani women and children

in a mafia-like manner.

The interesting point is that no information is provided about the

foundation's financial sources. The extensive role of the Heydar Aliyev

Foundation in the corruption system no longer surprises anyone.

Investigative journalists have presented documents and evidence showing

that numerous properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars are

registered in the names of Ilham Aliyev's children in cities around the

world—from Dubai to Prague And from St. Petersburg to Moscow

(including hundreds of millions of Dollars’ worth in commercial real estate

in the suburbs of London)  

According to international investigative reports, President Aliyev’s two

daughters own a complex network of protected trusts worth $13 Billion.

His son owned two airlines at age 12, and just months ago, he purchased a

Tourist Center/Hotel on the Mediterranean Sea in Antalya – Turkey, for

$600 Million (500 Million Euro).  His wife, the appointed first Vice

president, is publicly  accused of having  billions of dollars in Vatican

Bank Accounts.

4 – Severe economic pressure to public

The economic situation in Azerbaijan is practically critical. Azerbaijan is a

member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) led by Russia.

In 2025, Azerbaijan had the lowest economic growth among post-Soviet

countries.

The issue is that just as election results are always very clearly falsified in

favor of the ruling family, economic statistics are also manipulated. For

more than 15 years, they have reported unemployment and poverty rates at

5%, but no one in the country believes these figures.

In Azerbaijan, although the minimum wage is $235, 166,000 elderly

people receive only $130 (about half the minimum wage) in pension

benefits.

Although the government reports an inflation rate of 5-6%, independent

experts accuse the government of falsifying statistics and believe inflation

is in double digits.

The country's economy is dependent on oil revenues. The decline in oil

production over the past 15 years has significantly worsened people's

living conditions.

In a country with a population of 10 million, the GDP is only $74 billion.

A per capita income of about $7,000 indicates the severe difficulty of

people's living conditions.

The difficult economic situation has practically brought the country to the

brink of social explosion. In a country with a population of 10 million, if

the number of births in 2011 was 176,000, due to worsening socio-

economic conditions, this figure has now nearly halved to 95,000.

5 – Aliyev Family Mafia

Corruption and the monopolization of key economic sectors by the ruling

family and their close associates are the most important factors

contributing to the worsening socio-economic situation of citizens.

There is practically no free market in Azerbaijan; there is no free economic

competition or property rights.

The country's judicial system has become another plaything and tool for

suppressing opponents and rivals of Aliyev, and it is completely dependent

on Ilham Aliyev's apparatus.

The ruling regime in Azerbaijan is described as a criminal and corruption-

driven regime.

Aliyev practically acts as the leader of a kleptocratic (plunder-ruled)

regime. All ministers are members of a corrupt team.

The continuation of a police state in the style of Stalin's Soviet Union and

Kim Jong Un of  North Korea, and the transformation of Azerbaijan into a

backyard for Chinese and Russian spies, has not only practically made the

presence of the free world in the sensitive South Caucasus region difficult,

but will become even more difficult if the double-dealing with the US

continues and China's influence in Azerbaijan is solidified.

If Aliyev’s game of pretending to be America's friend continues while at

the same time facilitating and stabilizing China's influence in the Republic

of Azerbaijan, it will make it more difficult for the free world to be present

in the Caucasus, especially for the U.S.

After President Aliyev was given a symbolic key to the White House, he

overemphasized it and showed his people that all American Politicians,

statesmen, and leaders are his supporters.

Yes, he pretends to be pro-American, but his actions never reflect his

sincerity.

God may bless you, and United States of America

With best regards

Dr. Alireza Nazmi Afshar

Congress of Iranian Turks

California

Copy to the attention of:

Excellency JD Vance Vice President of USA

All US House of representatives and US Senate members

Excellency Marko Rubio Secretary of State

Colonel Charles Mclaughlin IV Special Assistant to the President

General Secretary of UN

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights: