By Jeff Coltin
NEW YORK (Politico) — A former New York City mayoral aide, whose home was raided by federal agents last fall, visited Azerbaijan with another Eric Adams official last year, according to public documents and information provided by City Hall.
The Azerbaijani government paid for the two mayoral aides to visit the country on what was billed as an economic development trip, just months before the raid.
“State Committee on Work with Diaspora of the Republic of Azerbaijan” covered up to $5,000 of expenses for Mayor’s Office of International Affairs Commissioner Edward Mermelstein’s visit to the country for “NYC related travel” last year, according to a mandatory financial disclosure released this week by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.
Joining Mermelstein to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku was Rana Abbasova, then the director of protocol in the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, from April 29 to May 2, 2023, a City Hall spokesperson confirmed.
The Adams administration put Abbasova on leave last November after FBI agents raided her home and, in doing so, alerted the public to a probe into Turkish government connections to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign. Abbasova’s family is from Azerbaijan, whose government is closely tied with Turkey. The countries share cultural ties as well.
