On January 23, 2024, Adela Naibova posted on Instagram a photograph of herself and Rachida Dati, the new Minister of Culture, taken during the “vœux” ceremony at the Mairie du 7ème arrondissement.
The closeness between Rachida Dati and the Azerbaijani dictatorship no longer needs proving. The article "Liens encombrants avec l’Azerbaïdjan : Rachida Dati rattrapée par le caviar de Bakou" by Laurent Léger, published in Libération, documented this very thoroughly. »
And while Rachida Dati has indeed been trying to conceal these links since 2018, the above photograph with Adela Naibova is not insignificant. The latter is indeed one of the “heads” of the new generation of the Azerbaijani lobby in France. in a very complete way.
Adela Naibova, born on November 14, 1998 in Baku, grew up in Rouen, before studying in Paris. Since 2017, she has appeared at pro-Azerbaijan events in Paris alongside Mirvari Fataliyeva, the lobby's “coordinator” in France, and Mehri Güliyeva.
That same year, she appeared in a photograph taken at the Azerbaijani Embassy alongside her mother. Adela Naibova soon found herself rubbing shoulders with embassy staff and members of the Azerbaijan lobby such as François Mancel.
Between 2018 and 2020, Adela Naibova held a series of positions with Azerbaijan's representative bodies in France: first with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation (for which, it should be noted, she went “to work” at the Azerbaijani embassy), then with the Azerbaijani embassy itself.
With Aliyev's representatives in France, Adela Naibova is strengthening her network, and no doubt participating directly in Azerbaijan's lobbying efforts. She can be seen at the French National Assembly alongside Günel Safarova and Pierre-Alain Raphan, former president of the France-Azerbaijan Friendship Group.
Adela Naibova helps organize events, including the Azerbaijan stand at the Village des Thés in Place Saint-Sulpice. Alongside members of the Azerbaijani Embassy and its lobbyists, we note the presence of “Report.az journalist” Vusala Aliyeva.
Adela Naibova is also co-organizing an event in February 2020 at the EAC School. The photo shows that “Azertac journalist” Shahla Aghalarova is a chargé de mission at the Azerbaijani embassy.
In March 2020, Adela Naibova took part in a round-table discussion at the Centre culturel d'Azerbaïdjan in Paris, alongside the same people as in February of the same year: Florence Gabay, Hélène Pichon and Shahla Aghalarova.
In parallel with her activities, Adela Naibova became a “correspondent” for Azerbaijani television in France at the time of the health crisis. She also claims to be the French coordinator of the Azerbaidjan Diaspora Youth organization.
Adela Naibova, therefore very active for the Azerbaijani representation in France, also regularly meets up with her friends at the Embassy and the Azerbaijani Cultural Center (and still does). Among them are Ibrahim Diawara and Melisa Kilinc.
The former is president of the Association des Etudiants de Turcologie (ADET) at INALCO, and the latter was himself a student at INALCO, and takes part in cultural events organized by the association.
What do they have in common? They don't hesitate to photograph themselves doing the Turkish equivalent of the fascist salute, the sign of the “Grey Wolves”, a neo-fascist organization recommended in 2021 by the European Parliament to be added to the list of terrorist organizations.
Still communications and culture advisor at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Paris, Adela Naibova co-founded the Caspian Research Center with Alban Claude and Mahir Huseynov. It will be inaugurated at the Azerbaijan Embassy Cultural Center in January 2020.
According to their LinkedIn profiles, Alban Claude and Mahir Huseynov are respectively Technical Advisor in charge of speeches at the French Ministry of the Interior, and Chargé de Mission Transformation at AXA. Neither of their profiles mentions the Caspian Research Center.
From the outset, the Caspian Research Center has been closely linked to other Aliyev and Azerbaijani lobbying organizations in France: the Association des Amis de l'Azerbaïdjan, Dialogue France-Azerbaïdjan, and of course the Azerbaijani Embassy and Cultural Center.
To organize their events, the Caspian Research Center works directly with the Azerbaijani Embassy, as well as with Melisa Kilinc's ADET.
For its publications, the Caspian Research Center disseminates the propaganda of the Azerbaijani dictatorship, particularly on the subject of Artsakh, but in an “entertaining” way, trying to pass itself off as a “platform for research and debate”.
At the same time, Adela Naibova became politically involved with the youth wing of the Horizons political party. She works on one of its committees, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. She was even part of the staff at the party's 2023 Congress...
...While continuing to rub shoulders with the most important heads of Ilham Aliyev's Azerbaijani representation in France, at the Azerbaijani Embassy and Cultural Centre, as well as at UNESCO, where she was several times mistress of ceremonies for events.
Moreover, Adela Naibova makes no secret of her admiration for the AZ dictator, whom she mentions and whose photograph she publishes to celebrate Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-Day War in November 2020.
Despite its role in lobbying the dictatorship, in February 2024 the Caspian Research Center is a partner in the organization of an Erasmus+ event, a project funded by the European Union, in Plaisir.
Adela Naibova, close to Turkish ultranationalists, the Azerbaijani diplomatic representation and Aliyev's lobbying heads in France, is herself a new head of this lobbying via the Caspian Research Center. Her photograph alongside Rachida Dati in January 2024 is no coincidence, and Azerbaijan's strategy of influence via this association and its EU-funded events must be brought to light.
