New details emerge of French spy network case in Azerbaijan

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The recent exposure of the French spy network in Azerbaijan has sparked widespread discussion in the leading pages of the French press, with Martin Ryan's father giving interviews in which he sharply accuses the French intelligence body DGSE (Directorate-General for External Security), Trend reports via Observer Online.

"It turns out that one of the individuals arrested by Azerbaijan's security authority in connection with the case is A. Mammadli, an Azerbaijani national who collaborated with the intelligence officials deployed at the diplomatic mission of France in Azerbaijan. He is accused of establishing extensive secret relationships with French citizen Martin Ryan and being involved in collecting and transmitting necessary information on the region in exchange for being granted French citizenship and financially rewarded. Relevant communications began to unfavorably impact France rather than serve its interests, leading to detrimental outcomes.

It gets obvious that according to the instructions of intelligence officials, both individuals established relations with various employees of the French giant "Societe Generale" financial conglomerate, which is one of the largest banking networks in the world. A. Mammadli participated in the opening of correspondent accounts of "Societe Generale" in Azerbaijani banks and the formulation of interbank accords on other matters.

The motives for sending A. Mammadli to Northern Ireland for a long time remain undisclosed as of now.

After the detention of the persons above on December 4 and the exposure of the extensions of the French intelligence network, the suspension of the representative offices of the “Societe Generale” Bank in 16 African countries on December 7, 2023, is particularly noteworthy. To mitigate losses, the Bank tries not to miss the opportunity to sell its branch networks and the assets of its subsidiaries to local companies in Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Chad, and other countries and to rationalize the closures with various excuses.

The fact is that the general failures have spurred debates regarding the suitability of Antoine Creux, Security Director in charge at “Societe Generale” Bank since 2017, a “retired” general who was the ex-chief of the intelligence and security department in the French Armed Forces.

"Societe Generale" is exactly the same bank where the future billionaire George Soros illicitly accrued wealth via the unauthorized purchase and sale of shares at the expense of the bank's confidential information in 1988. He was convicted in 2002 and managed to get away with a large fine.

We keep our attention on the topic," an Observer Online article published on April 6 reads.

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