Russian Foreign Ministry rejects criticism of Baku

Moscow/18.01.19 / Turan: The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation responded to a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry about the non-admission of Russian citizens to the country. "We got acquainted with the reaction of the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan to our message about the non-admission of Russian citizens with Armenian roots to this country. The tone of the commentary is beyond diplomatic decorum. We are also unhappy with the content requiring "not to inflate" the topic of discrimination of Russian citizens coming to Azerbaijan as ostensibly of little significance against the background of the dynamic progressive development of bilateral relations.

This approach, of course, is unacceptable. Protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Russian citizens is one of the unconditional priorities of our foreign policy, carried out under the leadership of the President of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the presence of friendly interstate relations with a particular country is usually considered as a factor contributing to a constructive solution of problems in this field.

Instead of having no direct connection to the case of general reasoning, we would like to hear substantive explanations of each incident with the Russians. Among these "private cases", according to the terminology of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, are as blatant as a denied entry in May 2018 to a veteran of World War II, an eighty-year-old resident of besieged Leningrad, or not admitting a woman in February 2017 who, together with her four-year-old son spent many hours there.

We also expect official clarifications through diplomatic channels regarding the hints of the Azerbaijani side on the need for Russian citizens to coordinate trips to Azerbaijan with the republic"s embassy in Moscow, which would violate the July 3, 1997 agreement on visa-free trips of citizens of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan Republic.

Depending on the substantive reaction of the Azerbaijani side, we will determine our further steps," said the answer.

On January 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan criticized the statement of the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, on January 11 about the non-admission of Russians with Armenian names to Azerbaijan.

"It is not the first time when 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, pulling it out of the general context, are another manifestation of the general trend we have indicated," said the response of the Azerbaijani side.

A representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that "the Azerbaijani side promised that this situation would be corrected."

"We strongly refute this. Azerbaijani-Russian relations are based on equality, and the expression "correct the situation" contradicts the essence of equal bilateral relations."

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry is convinced that "another provocative and anti-Azerbaijani statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman will not have a negative impact on relations between Azerbaijan and Russia," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a response. -02D-