A diplomatic spat between Russia and Azerbaijan intensified over the weekend, with Baku continuing to refuse to allow Russian citizens of Armenian descent to visit the South Caucasus country.
The Azerbaijani government has long maintained a travel ban for not only Armenia’s citizens but also ethnic Armenians from other countries because of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It considers any Armenian presence on Azerbaijani soil a security risk.
On January 11, Russia renewed its demands for the lifting of the ban for its ethnic Armenian citizens. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the “blatant violation” of their rights is “incompatible with friendly ties between the two countries.”
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry rejected Zakharova’s remarks as “provocative” and “anti-Azerbaijani.” The ministry defended the travel ban, blaming it on Armenia’s “policy of aggression against Azerbaijan.”
The Azerbaijani ambassador in Moscow, Polad Bulbuloglu, claimed, for his part, that ethnic Armenians are not allowed into his country for the sake of their own security.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the Azerbaijani statements as “going beyond the bounds of diplomatic propriety.” “Depending on a meaningful reaction of the Azerbaijani side, we will decide our further steps,” it warned in a statement issued on Friday.
Baku remained defiant, saying that the Russian statement amounts to an ultimatum and contradicts “the basis of strategic relations between Azerbaijan and Russia.”
According to Zakharova, there were at least 16 cases of Russian nationals denied entry to Azerbaijan “on ethnic grounds” in 2018. The most recent of them was reported late last month. Kristina Gevorkyan, an ethnic Armenian holder of a Russian passport, said that she was held in detention at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev international airport for 13 hours before being deported to Russia.