The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office has put Turkish citizen Celal Ciftci, a columnist for the Sanliurfa Olay newspaper of Turkey, on the international wanted list.

A criminal case has been opened against him on charges of repeatedly making public calls for the violent seizure of power, the violent change of the constitutional order, and inciting religious hatred.

The investigation was based on information about posts made by various users on social media, in particular by Ciftci. According to the investigation, the materials contained calls for the violent seizure of power and inciting religious hatred through violence.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan claims that after the adoption of the September 21 decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, materials with religious-radical content have been repeatedly distributed, including those created using artificial intelligence. According to the investigation, these publications were aimed at organizing a coup, forcibly changing the constitutional order, and inciting religious hatred.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan on Friday initiated a criminal case under several articles of the country’s Criminal Code. They provide for liability for multiple public calls for the forcible seizure of power or changing the constitutional order, inciting religious hatred through the use of violence, as well as for preparing, storing, and distributing materials calling for or justifying religious-extremist activities.

Ciftci was brought to criminal accountability as an accused, and the Azerbaijani court ruled for his pretrial detention in absentia.

According to the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office, requests for international legal assistance are being sent to the competent bodies of Turkey to carry out investigative actions against the journalist and other individuals.

There is no officially confirmed information about the decision of the Turkish side on these requests.

After the publicizing of the information about his being put on international wanted list, Ciftci posted a statement in X, in which he apologized to the Azerbaijani state and people.

This criminal prosecution of the aforesaid Turkish journalist is taking place amid public debates in Azerbaijan about the rules of school uniforms in the country. The September 21 decision of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers concerns clothing and accessories that are incompatible with the requirements of school uniforms and the principle of secular education in Azerbaijan. Although the document does not directly mention the Islamic headscarf, according to media reports, girls wearing hijabs were not allowed to attend classes, which caused protests.

These restrictions have become a subject of dispute between representatives of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Against this background, the Ciftci case has acquired additional political significance. However, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office officially links the criminal prosecution to the dissemination of materials that, according to it, contained calls for the violent seizure of power in Azerbaijan and incitement to religious hatred.

The investigation is ongoing. The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office announces that it intends to comprehensively study the content of the publications, the circumstances of their creation and dissemination, and provide their legal assessment.