These days I feel like my brain is running under a heavy workload. I am not able to hold a conversation without scripting it first: like games where ending can change depending on your choices. My brain calculates every possible outcome and it is hard for me to function.

I feel like a simulation sometimes.

I certainly had better days.

The most enjoyable moment for me is when I sit with someone and just keep silent. Like, I want to say a thousand things but in the end silence seems like the best choice.

2024. Die aserbaidschanische Journalistin Ulviyya (Ali) Guliyeva erklärt mir mit welcher Masche Journalisten hier verhaftet werden: Ihnen wird Geld untergeschoben, sie stehen dann wegen "Bargeldschmuggel" vor Gericht. 2025. Guliyeva wird selbst verhaftet. In ihrer Wohnung werden 6.700€ versteckt.

Imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Ulviyya Ali writes of the psychological toll on Azerbaijani prisoners in a letter dated one year after her arrest.

One year ago today, seven police officers stormed the Baku home of former VOA News freelance reporter Ulviyya Ali at midnight, searched it, and arrested her. HRF demands her immediate release and accountability for the abuse she has suffered in detention.

First birthday in exile

Happy to contribute advocacy efforts for Ahmad Mammadli — an Azerbaijani journalist, human rights defender, and founder of independent media outlet Yoldaş Media, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison on fabricated charges in retaliation for his reporting. ahmadmammadli.info

I published this command line tool to download books from Russian Public Historical Library github.com/cavidaga/pye...

Wrote a Wikipedia article about Jacob Reineggs, who visited Caucasus in 1780-1784. He later became court physician to Heraclius II, eventually instrumental in annexation of Georgia to Russian Empire en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_R...

There is a new Thai food place next to my house and man, I should have tried Khao Soi with duck long ago.

I translated "Una Embajada de Clemente VIII a Persia (1600-1609)" by O.S.A. Carlos Alonso to English. You can buy for $15 here: www.patreon.com/posts/clemen...

"As ridiculous as it sounds, being radical in Azerbaijan amounts to writing articles and conducting interviews," says @louisemichelone.bsky.social.

“After Azerbaijan, I changed three countries and four homes," says @cavid.info. “I still have difficulty processing it. Rebuilding a circle of friends, meeting new people, retelling the same story to everyone — it is mentally exhausting.”

Azerbaijani journalist @ulviyyaali.bsky.social continues to work from prison, here interviewing Azerbaijani activists living in exile: ulviyyaali.com/the-life-of-...

I will be an addict of something by this month. Still choosing the best substance.

Slavoj Žižek and renowned scholars demand freedom for Bahruz Samadov freebahruzcampaign.org/news/zizek-s...

Today mom dumped an insane lore about my childhood. Apparently I started walking at the month of 8 before crawling. I was sitting all the time before. One day they walked in and I was just standing there lol.

I have always wondered why I use English on social media. Contrary to what people think, I am not trying to be as universal as possible. It is just that English is the most comfortable language to express my intimate feelings in.

The most brutal thing to discover about myself since arriving in Warsaw was that I am genuinely incapable of expressing any feeling externally. Everything goes inside - the joy, the rage, the love and the sadness etc.

Life feels unbearable in exile oftentimes. Loneliness is killing me, not gonna lie.

This was a murder...

I fucking hate it man. One of my friends committed suicide today by walking into Caspian Sea. No notes, no farewell. I fucking hate it.

Azerbaijan’s presidential website has briefly published, then quietly removed, a detailed regulation outlining how the State Security Service would collect and access personal data on citizens and residents through a new centralised system. oc-media.org/azerbaijan-d...

Message from @smdov.bsky.social: 1. He greets OSCE ODIHR conference participants. 2. "I call on the organizers to pay attention to the current deplorable situation regarding human rights in Azerbaijan — the issue of political prisoners." 3. "I thank those who raised this issue."

Dear friends, I have launched a website for @ulviyyaali.bsky.social where you will be able to read her letters from prison and relevant news about her case: ulviyyaali.com

My father was the last in our tribe born in a nomad’s tent. A century earlier, my great-great-grandfather’s cousin testified about the massacre that nearly destroyed the Padars. I wrote about it here: cavid.info/the-padar-ma...

Yesterday, I launched lnk.az, an AI-powered media bias detector for Azerbaijani readership. My goal is to make information more transparent, clear, and independent for everyone.

Berlin is so chaotic. I can't wait to go back to Warsaw.

Message from @smdov.bsky.social: "My trials were conducted very unfairly. No one was allowed into my hearings. They could not prove my guilt in any way. I ask all honest people to share that I am innocent and that I was imprisoned for wanting peace and justice."

Italian media published an article about @ulviyyaali.bsky.social with my, @cesarebarberis.bsky.social and Ulviyya's mother's comments included. altreconomia.it/il-silenzio-...

Despite that @ulviyyaali.bsky.social is in jail, she continues to do journalism. Here is my translation of her interview with Haji Valiyev, a Karabakh war veteran: medium.com/@cavidaga/ul...

News from Bahruz Samadov: He met his grandmother today. He told her that since the peace treaty was signed, being unjustly kept in prison hurts him even more now. He said he cannot find peace for himself in the cell.

Never thought I would be in the Mayhem concert some day.

The TRIPP would also nullify Iranian plans for a long term presence in the southern Caucasus, which has been a red line for Tehran’s rulers. www.intellinews.com/trump-to-hos...

New message from @smdov.bsky.social: 1. I highly appreciate the signing of the peace agreement in the US. 2. I request the Armenian state to issue a statement confirming that I have no connection with Armenia. 3. Closed courts do not allow open court hearings to be transparent.

12 hours inside State Security Service of Azerbaijan – a personal experience cavid.info/12-hours-ins...

Who is in Warsaw and wants to meet?

AZERBAIJAN MEDIA IN EXILE SINCE 2015 jx-fund.org/countries/az...

I am moving to Warsaw today. Let's see what life brings next.

I plan to start a YouTube channel and livestream weekly once I am settled. There is too much to say that writing doesn't cut it anymore.

I envy those got to see Ozzy live...

Stay tuned

Explainer | What was behind the recent spat between Azerbaijan and Russia? oc-media.org/explainer-wh...

Azerbaijani government banned people from holding an anti-Russian protest in front of the Russian embassy in Baku. Tells you a lot about their performative theatrics.

Azerbaijan just arrested dozens of Russians. The Ministry of Internal Affairs says they are gang members who are suspected of drug transit, trafficking, and cyber fraud from Iran.

Do I know anyone in Bosnia? I am dying out of boredom here.

Even in prison, @ulviyyaali.bsky.social doesn't stop doing journalism. Here is her interview with Bahruz Samadov. medium.com/@cavidaga/ul...