Rachida Dati, former Minister of Justice (2007-2009), Mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris since 2008 and Minister of Culture since January 11, 2024, is a close friend of Azerbaijan's representatives in France. We already mentioned her in our publications dedicated to Olivier Pardo and Adela Naibova.
It's time for a chronological review of the links between Aliyev's dictatorship and this minister, who has been under investigation since 2021 for “passive corruption” and “influence peddling”.
In November 2010, Rachida Dati announced on Facebook that she was leaving for Azerbaijan for “electoral observation” during the country's parliamentary elections.
In April 2011, Rachida Dati visited Baku and met with the Judicial and Legal Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan. She took the opportunity to call for closer legal cooperation between France and Azerbaijan.
During the same trip to Azerbaijan, Rachida Dati met the wife of dictator Ilham Aliyev, Mehriban Aliyeva, with whom she let herself be photographed, and whom she thanked for her invitation and for “promoting women's rights” in Azerbaijani society.
During the same stay in Baku, she met the then Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, with whom she is said to have exchanged views on energy and infrastructure.
In September 2011, Rachida Dati took part, alongside Mehriban Aliyeva, in the Conference “Azerbaijan: strategic partner for European energy security”, at the European Parliament Office in Paris. At the event, she asserted that Azerbaijan is indeed a strategic partner for France, and praised its “successes” since independence. Thierry Mariani, another key figure in the Azerbaijan lobby in France, also spoke at the conference.
In December 2011, Rachida Dati met the Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev and his wife Mehriban Aliyeva in Baku. The following day, she met again with Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmar Mammadyarov, with whom she expressed “satisfaction at her second visit to Azerbaijan” and underlined “the rapid development she had observed in Azerbaijan”.
In February 2012, an article signed by Rachida Dati, entitled “Meeting the challenge of energy security”, appeared in the International Chamber of Commerce's “Echanges Internationaux” magazine, on the occasion of the publication of a special issue dedicated to Azerbaijan: “Azerbaijan: a rapidly evolving economy”.
The magazine featured articles by the then French Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Gabriel Keller; the then Azerbaijani Ambassador to France, Eltchin Amirbeyov; Mehriban Aliyeva; the then French Minister for Industry, the Economy and the Digital Economy, Eric Besson; Thierry Mariani, French Minister of Transport; James Hogan, Vice-President of the French-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce; Senator André Reichardt; Olivier Achard, Commercial Director of Thales Systèmes Aérien; and Marc Feuillade, Managing Director of Total Azerbaijan.
At the end of December 2012, Rachida Dati gave an interview to Azerbaijani media outlet Day.az, in which she praised Azerbaijan, declaring in particular that Azerbaijan “is an example for the entire Muslim world”, and regretted that France and the European Union were not more active alongside Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
In October 2013, Rachida Dati congratulates Ilham Aliyev on his “re-election” as President of Azerbaijan. In the letter, she wrote: "This election confirms your commitment to your country, thanks to social reforms in many areas. I am thinking in particular of the campaign against unemployment, the increase in pensions and social assistance, investment in school and health infrastructure, and the preservation of cultural heritage".
In July 2014, Rachida Dati took part in an exhibition entitled “Azerbaijan: country of traditions and future”, organized for the second year running in Cannes by the Azerbaijani authorities and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Rachida Dati is directly quoted as a member of the Association des Amis de l'Azerbaïdjan, then chaired by Jean-François Mancel, who also speaks on the occasion.
Nor is it insignificant that, in the archives of the Association des Amis de l'Azerbaïdjan website, Rachida Dati is present in several photographs alongside Mirvari Fataliyeva, an important member of the Azerbaijan lobby in France, and is even quoted.
In fact, Rachida Dati celebrated France's national holiday on July 14, 2014, at the Azerbaijani embassy, as can be seen from the photographs taken during the event.
In May 2015, Rachida Dati, then in Baku, intervened again to extol the merits of Azerbaijan. The article quotes her as follows: “Ms. Dati said she was a politician who supported Azerbaijan unreservedly, adding, ”I have visited Azerbaijan several times and I know your country well. Azerbaijan is a tolerant country that respects national and religious minorities, both locally and internationally. This is really a very important issue. I'm very happy to be in Azerbaijan.“”
In June 2015, in an article published by the Azerbaijan State News Agency, Rachida Dati called for closer ties between France and Azerbaijan, taking advantage of the fact that Azerbaijan was then hosting the first edition of the European Games. She relativizes the quasi-totalitarian nature of the Azerbaijani regime, asserting: "They talk about human rights violations and that's all they talk about. Yes, not everything is perfect in Azerbaijan. Is it somewhere? Yes, the country often referred to as the Pearl of the Caucasus still has some way to go."
In April 2016, on the sidelines of the Four-Day War, Rachida Dati took part, alongside Jean-François Mancel and Jérôme Bignon, in the drafting of a letter to François Hollande, in which she accused Armenia of having broken the ceasefire and recuperated the Aliyev regime's rhetoric about Nagorno-Karabakh, claiming that the indigenous Armenian population was guilty of “illegal occupation”.
The day after this publication, Rachida Dati appeared as a participant at an event organized by a “Club Diplomatique” in Paris on “Azerbaijan's civilizational environment”, during which she praised the tolerance of the Azerbaijani regime, invoking it as “an example for the rest of the world”.
On April 15, 2016, Rachida Dati was one of the signatories of a letter sent to François Hollande denouncing “Armenian provocations” aimed at Azerbaijan. Among the signatories are also Nathalie Goulet, Jean-Marie Bockel, André Reichardt, Jean-Luc Reitzer, Sylvie Goy-Chavent, Jérôme Lambert, Jérôme Bignon, Jean-François Mancel and Christian Namy, all active members of the Azerbaijan lobby in France.
In early June 2016, Rachida Dati was invited to the Azerbaijani Embassy for a party organized by the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), on the eve of the launch of Euro 2016 soccer, of which the company is an official partner. Rachida attends the party, praising Azerbaijan's “tolerance” and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation's “contributions” to culture. She seems particularly close to the Secretary General of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan, Mirvari Fataliyeva.
In September 2016, alongside Mehriban Aliyeva and members of the Azerbaijan lobby in France such as Jean-François Mancel, Rachida Dati took part in the inauguration of the Village d'Azerbaïdjan, a propaganda event for Aliyev's regime organized in the heart of Paris, Place Joffre, in the 7th arrondissement, where she is mayor.
In July 2017, Rachida Dati, along with two other MEPs, Ivo Vajgl and Iveta Grigule, published a statement denouncing “Armenian military crimes”. In particular, the text states that “as European politicians, we must also call on Armenia to cease civilian hostage-taking as soon as possible, as it is illegal and a symbol of cowardice, for political demands that are both unjustified and illegitimate.”
In the wake of this, she co-signed a letter to Emmanuel Macron, alongside other lobbyists for the Azerbaijani dictatorship, including: Jean-Marie Bockel, Jean-Pierre Door, Jérôme Lambert, Jean-Luc Reitzer, André Villiers, André Reichardt, Nathalie GOULET, Jérôme Bignon, Éric Dolige, Sylvie Goy-Chavent, Alain Houpert, Christian Namy, Alain Vasselle, Jean-François Mancel, Yves Albarello, Yves Foulon, Georges Fenec and Jean-Marie Tetart. The message is virtually the same as that of the press release published the same day with the MEPs, but here brings together the political faction of the Azerbaijani network of influence in France.
In April 2018, Rachida Dati co-signed a press release congratulating Novruz Mammadov on the appointment of Prime Minister of Azerbaijan. The signatories included numerous members of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan: Jean-François Mancel, Jean-Pierre Allali, Hedva Ser, Pierre Thilloy, Jérôme Béguin, Guy Chevalier, Mirvari Fataliyeva, Patrick Gendraud, Michel Gourinchas, Jean-Pierre Guinhut, Robert Hossein, Alain Houpert, Thierry Mariani, Christian Poncelet, Jean Perrin, Danielle Rousseau, Benoît Sadry, Jean-Marie Tetart, and André Villiers.
Finally, in May 2018, Rachida Dati congratulated the autocrat Ilham Aliyev on his "re-election", pretending to believe (or actually believing?) in this democratic farce by writing that "the renewed confidence of a large majority of Azeri citizens in you confirms your leadership and welcomes the economic and societal progress made in Azerbaijan since the beginning of your mandates". She signed her letter by concluding "Rest assured, Mr. President of the Republic, of my faithful support for all the policies that you will continue to implement for Azerbaijan and its people".
With the broadcast of the Cash Investigation report “Mon président est en voyage d'affaires” in September 2015 having tarnished her reputation, from 2017-2018 Rachida Dati has been more discreet, exposing significantly less of her links with representatives of the Azerbaijani dictatorship and its ruling family. However, it should be emphasized that she remains a friend of the autocracy, and is considered as such by her envoys, notably Mirvari Fataliyeva, who on social networks praises the Paris mayoral candidate's program.
Finally, she appears alongside another Azerbaijani lobbyist in France, Adela Naibova, in January 2024, during the New Year's greetings at the Town Hall of the 7th arrondissement of Paris.
An article published by Azerbaijani media outlet Report.az on January 24, 2024, referred to Rachida Dati as follows: "A long-time friend of Azerbaijan and a shrewd and skillful politician, Ms. Dati has forged ties with Azerbaijan over the past decade. Her support for Azerbaijan suggests the possibility of a unique bond within the new French government that could prove to be an opportunity to restore relations between the two countries that have suffered massive damage over the past four years."
So, while Rachida Dati may be less visible alongside the pundits of the Azerbaijan lobby in France today, she is no less active behind the scenes, and her links with the Aliyev dictatorship - which are still very much alive - should not be forgotten.
