Thread by @SaschaDueerkop

🧵 Aznur 🇦🇿🇦🇺🇧🇾🇩🇪🇷🇺

This is a story of stolen taxpayer money, a Brazilian restaurant in #Berlin, corrupted parliamentarians from #Australia, heavy military trucks used to invade #Ukraine, the crackdown of the protests in #Belarus and several key figures of the #Azerbaijan regime

Years ago, @OCCRP published raw data of the so-called #Azerbaijan laundromat, a massive money laundering scheme that was used to send stolen taxpayer money abroad.

What puzzled me where these payments. Apparently, the Azerbaijan state opened the company "Aznur GmbH"

Indeed, such a company does exist. And even more than that - it is art of a network of companies. One of the companies in the network is "Brasil Gastro GmbH", a company that runs the restaurant "Brasil Brasileiro" on Ku'damm, Berlin's most prestigious street.

Other known actual businesses are taxi and rental companies in Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig and for a short time in Lübeck - but that company quickly lost its license to operate again.

But most interesting are the owners of these companies... Who is Aznur?

The "Aznur GmbH", opened by the laundromat, is owned by Sabina and Nurlana Fatiyeva, the wife and daughter of Khanlar Fatiyev.

Khanlar Fatiyev is the president of the swimming federation of #Azerbaijan, a former MP and runs an automobile factory in Ganja.

And when I say an automobile factory, I mean he basically is the "local military industry", as newspapers in #Azerbaijan brag. Based on the chassis of a truck from #Belarus he invented the "killer drone launcher truck" that #Aliyev keeps presenting to his guests.

Speaking of #Belarus. Fatiyev is the most important link between #Aliyev and #Lukashenka. He's awarded with the highest order of the state of Belarus, as he's helping Lukashenka to sell trucks abroad until today - including to #NATO member Turkey.

Most of the partners of Fatiyev in #Belarus are long under sanctions. Such as MAZ and it's head Ivanovich, who was a driving force in beating down the protests of its workers in #Minsk in 2020.

On the very day Fatiyev was given his award by #Lukashenka, a second guy was awarded: Yaqub Eyyubov, Deputy Prime Minister of #Azerbaijan, appointed by #Aliyev.

And proud father of Farhad Eyyubov, owner of Aznur Travel GmbH in Germany.

Yaqub Eyyubov is, if you wish, #Azerbaijan|s man for #Russia, mostly. He met #Putin more often than anyone and holds the highest russian order.

While he was never elected, he's in office since 2003, despite uncountable money laundering and corruption scandals.

Before we are coming to handing silk carpets to Australian MPs, let me say that Aznur isn't a German thing.

It's operating in #Azerbaijan, #Belarus, #Georgia and #Australia.

None of the German companies was ever profitable, but that's probably ok for them.

Now to #Australia. In 2016, Liz Bejat reported to the Western Australia Legislative Council about her findings while observing the elections in #Azerbaijan.

She starts thanking Khanlar Fatiyev, who is in presence, before arguing that #Australia could learn from AZ.

(here it's overdue to remind you that #Azerbaijan is a brutal dictatorship ruled by former KGB general Heydar Aliyev and now his son Ilham ever since independence. It's ranked worse than Russia and Iran in democracy rankings. The 2016 elections were farcical)

I also really want to link the full hearing in, so you can see and judge yourself how obviously paid for these "observations" are. It's still only via archive:
web.archive.org/web/2021040823…

In fact, in 2016 and again in 2018, a whole bunch of Australian MPs went to #Azerbaijan to "observe elections". They all loved it. They all also met the winner #Aliyev. They all declared that Khanlar Fatiyev paid. And some got a rug from him - worth ~1500 USD

If German MPs that met #Fatiyev got a rug as well is unknown. Maybe someone feels like asking Steffen Kotré and Waldemar Herdt (ultra-right #noAfD) or Johannes Kahrs (#SPD)?

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