Baku’s relations with Moscow plunge to new lows after alleged police killing of ethnic Azerbaijanis
State-run media outlet Azertac has written that two ethnic Azerbaijanis were killed during Russian law enforcement raids in Yekaterinburg, with several others seriously injured and nine people arrested. Following this, Baku cancelled a number of Russia-related events and raided the offices of Sputnik-Azerbaijan as relations seemed to plunge to a new low.
On 27 June, Azertac reported that the raids were in connection to alleged crimes committed decades ago. The two men killed were identified as brothers, Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov.
Later, on 28 June, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Russia in Azerbaijan, Pyotr Volokov, was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, which stated that it had lodged ‘a strong protest’ to the Russian side in response to the raids. The ministry added that it expects from Russia that ‘the case will be investigated and all those responsible for the violence will be brought to the attention of the other side’.
The Russian state-run media outlet TASS reported that on Sunday, a Yekaterinburg court remanded Ayaz Safarov, another brother and a defendant in murder cases from previous years, into custody. Safarov was among those arrested in the police raids.
Another brother, Mazahir Safarov, was also one of those detained.
The Russian media outlet E1.ru wrote that the Safarovs and other defendants were allegedly part of an ethnic criminal group involved in a number of murders and attempted murders in Yekaterinburg in 2001, 2010, and 2011.
‘Some suspects have already confessed and are cooperating with the investigation. Searches are being conducted at their places of residence. The issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention is currently being decided’, the media outlet wrote.
The bodies of Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, who were reportedly brutally beaten to death, have been handed over to their relatives.
The pro-government media outlet Qafqazinfo.az wrote that earlier, the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Yekaterinburg reported that the bodies were taken from the morgue of the Yekaterinburg Bureau of Forensic Medicine.
Deteriorating relations
Baku has reacted strongly to the incident, which appears to further damage an already tense relationship with Moscow.
Azertac noted that ‘in response to the targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence against Azerbaijanis based on their ethnicity’, all cultural events planned in Azerbaijan involving Russian state and private entities have been cancelled.
‘We sincerely regret the decisions taken’, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in response.
Peskov added that Moscow believes that the measures taken by the Azerbaijani side are an ‘exaggerated reaction’ and that issues related to the actions of law enforcement agencies should not become a reason ‘for such large-scale restrictions’.
Peskov stressed that a separate conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on this matter was not planned.
‘However, if necessary, such a dialogue can be organised in a short time. The Russian side declares its interest in continuing cooperation with Azerbaijan’, Peskov said.
Monday brought new developments in the deteriorating relations between Moscow and Baku, when Azerbaijani authorities raided the offices of the Russian state-run media outlet Sputnik-Azerbaijan in Baku, resulting in several detentions, two of whom were allegedly employees of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
In February, the Azerbaijani government ordered the suspension of the Sputnik-Azerbaijan, allowing one journalist to keep working in the country.
Following this, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Rahman Mustafayev was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said it was ‘in connection with Baku’s unfriendly actions and the illegal detention of Russian journalists’.
Aytan Farhadova
