Russia exerts pressure on Azerbaijan, backing the country’s ethnic minority, Armenian political analyst said.

Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan cited Moscow-hosted large-scale conference with problems of Lezgians and Avars on agenda to prove his statement.

“The editor-in-chief of “Voice of the Talysh” paper Hilal Mamedov was abducted and later officially detained,” the expert said.

In June 2008, the paper’s previous editor-in-chief Novruzali Mammadov was also sentenced to 12 years in prison for high treason. He was further assassinated in jail. His two sons were arrested too, with all their property confiscated.