Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Condemns Statement of Maria Zakharova

Baku / 12.01.19 / Turan: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has condemned statements by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, about not allowing Russian citizens of Armenian origin to Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan is always open for citizens of Russia. In 2018 alone, 880 thousand Russian citizens visited our country, and there were no complaints from them about the issue raised. The overwhelming majority of Russian citizens were pleased with their visit and expressed gratitude for the hospitality, "said the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry"s spokesperson, Leyla Abdullayeva, in the evening of January 11.

At the same time, she emphasized that among those who visited Azerbaijan were citizens of Russia of Armenian origin.

Moreover, according to Abdullayeva, "not only the citizens of Russia of Armenian origin, but also the citizens of Armenia participated in international, sporting and cultural events held in Azerbaijan, and they had no problems."

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is well aware that for many years Armenia has been pursuing a policy of aggression against Azerbaijan, as a result of which the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent administrative regions are occupied, more than one million people were subjected to ethnic cleansing and became refugees and forced immigrants," further noted Abdullayeva.

However, it is not the first time that Zakharova makes statements that contradict the spirit of bilateral strategic relations. "Against the background of the development of Azerbaijani-Russian relations, this statement and attempts to inflate some particular case, taking it out of the general context, are another manifestation of the general trend we have indicated. Apparently, the recent emergence of serious problems in Armenian-Russian relations and, on the contrary, the successful development of Azerbaijani-Russian relations (last year alone, the Presidents of the two countries met 6 times) seriously worry some individuals in the Russian Foreign Ministry. The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that "the Azerbaijani side promised that it would correct this situation." We strongly refute this. Azerbaijani-Russian relations are based on equality, and the expression "it would correct this situation" contradicts the essence of equal bilateral relations," the head of the Foreign Ministry"s press service said.

Abdullayeva is convinced that "another provocative and anti-Azerbaijani statement by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry will not have a negative impact on relations between Azerbaijan and Russia." "Azerbaijani-Russian relations are determined not by Foreign Ministries, but by the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, and both sides are very interested in developing these relations and are making efforts in this direction," she said. -06B--