Diplomatic relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have struck a brand-new low following the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijani males during mass cops arrests in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg last week.Azerbaijans Foreign Ministrysummoned Russias charg daffaires, Pyotr Volokovykh, on Saturday to object what it called the harsh killing of the two Azerbaijani males during Fridays raids.
The ministry said numerous others were seriously injured.Russian law enforcement authorities at first stated the arrests targeted an ethnic criminal group linked to murders from the early 2000s, and verified the detainees were Azerbaijani-born Russian citizens.
In overall, around 50 individuals were arrested.Police did not acknowledge any deaths until later on, when Russias Investigative Committee saidMonday that one male appeared to have died from heart failure, while the cause of the 2nd death was still under investigation.Relatives of the victims, identified in Azerbaijani media as siblings Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, stated that an autopsy of the two bodies, which were reportedly sent to Azerbaijan, will be performed in Baku sometime this week.In an indication of the diplomatic fallout, Azerbaijans Culture Ministry on Sunday canceled all Russian-linked shows, exhibits and celebrations, citing demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings carried out on ethnic grounds.
Azerbaijans parliament also took out of a scheduled bilateral conference in Moscow, and the government canceled a visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.The federal government of Azerbaijan does rule out it appropriate under the current situations for Overchuk or any other official representative of Russia to visit the nation, the Azerbaijani news agency Report estimated officials as saying.The Kremlin saiditsincerely is sorry for the cancellation of Russian cultural programs in Azerbaijan.Later on Monday, police authorities in Baku raided the workplace of Sputnik Azerbaijan, the local branch of Russias state news network.
Although Sputnik formally suspended operations in the South Caucasus country earlier this year after a new media law restricted foreign ownership, it continued publishing content online.Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry claimed the news outlet continues to run through unlawful financing, while likewise confirming that arrests had actually been made throughout the authorities search.Local news outlets reported that Sputnik Azerbaijan editor-in-chief Igor Kartavykh and deputy editor Evgeny Belousov were among those detained on Monday.
SeveralAzerbaijani outlets claimedthat the two guys are employees of Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), but there was no official confirmation of that information.A third Russian reporter was arrested on Monday while recording the police search, according to the Russian state-owned Ruptly video news agency.Amid the reports, Russias Foreign Ministry said Azerbaijans ambassador in Moscow was summoned in connection with the hostile actions of Baku and the illegal detention of Russian journalists.Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have actually grown significantly stretched because Russian air defenses shot down a traveler aircraft flying from Baku to Grozny in the republic of Chechnya in December.
The plane eventually crashed in western Kazakhstan, eliminating 38 people on board.Russian President Vladimir Putin provided an uncommon apology to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the crash.
Still, he stoppedshort of accepting obligation, saying air defense systems in Chechnya were reacting to a Ukrainian drone strike on the day of the catastrophe.