An Azerbaijani man and his partner have been remanded in custody for five days after being arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of terrorism and espionage, the Nicosia District Court ruled on Friday.
The pair were allegedly photographing premises linked to Israeli interests in Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos. Foreign intelligence services tipped off Cypriot security authorities that the two had entered Cyprus to surveil and photograph sites connected to Israelis.
According to sources, the suspects arrived on the island two to three days ago and began moving between areas before being placed under surveillance. Security forces then moved in and made the arrests. Authorities were assessing that the pair had been planning to leave Cyprus on Saturday.
Police seized the suspects’ mobile phones and other electronic devices for forensic examination to determine what they had been photographing and whether any material had been transmitted elsewhere. Investigations are at an early stage, philenews was told, and searches of the suspects’ accommodation and movements are to follow.
The case is being treated as serious. Protective measures are being put in place at a number of premises, against the backdrop of heightened tensions involving Iran.
Authorities are still working to establish when exactly the pair entered Cyprus and on whose behalf they were operating.
The arrests are the latest in a series of alleged espionage cases involving Azerbaijani nationals on the island. In June 2025, another Azerbaijani was arrested in connection with photographing the British Base at Akrotiri and the Andreas Papandreou Base in Paphos. Another Azerbaijani national, arrested in 2021, was convicted last November and sentenced to six and a half years in prison for conspiracy, after charges relating to planned actions against Israelis in Nicosia were dropped.
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