At least five servicemen were reportedly expelled from the army in August.
According to reports, on August 2, junior sergeant Sanan Farajov and private Yusid Bayramli were expelled from the army for having shared photos and videos from the military service on their personal social media accounts. In a statement released by the Ministry of Defense, “Serious measures will be taken against military personnel who grossly violate the rules of military ethics, as well as the requirements of the charters and relevant orders which prohibit the use of smartphones during service. The dismissed servicemen shared footage on a live broadcast on their personal accounts on the TikTok social network.”
On August 3, an officer named Urfan Madatov, was also dismissed from the military on similar grounds.
According to Qaynarinfo.az two more servicemen were dismissed on August 6, Seymur Suleymanzade and Afet Abdullayeva, on the grounds of using mobile phones during service, and sharing video and photo content on their personal accounts about the military service. Following the decision, the Ministry of Defense recalled that serious measures will be taken against any military personnel for violating the rules of military ethics, as well as the requirements and orders.
Azerbaijani Armed Forces restrict the use of mobile phones among officers on the contact line between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The restriction was introduced in 2014, with the purpose to ensure secrecy on the line of contact.