Azerbaijan has canceled all cultural events planned by Russian state and private institutions in protest over the deaths of two Azerbaijanis after police raids in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, Azerbaijani officials said Sunday.
\nAzerbaijan\u2019s Culture Ministry wrote on X that concerts, exhibitions, festivals and performances were canceled on account of \u201cthe demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Yekaterinburg.\u201d
\nAccording to Azerbaijan\u2019s Foreign Ministry, Russian law enforcement raided homes of Azerbaijani residents in the industrial city in Russia\u2019s Ural Mountains on Friday. Two Azerbaijanis were killed, it said, along with several others seriously injured and nine detained.
\nThe ministry on Saturday summoned the Russian Embassy\u2019s charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires in Baku, Pyotr Volokovykh, demanding a full investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
\nThe victims were identified as Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, both around 60 years old. Their brother, Sayfaddin Huseynli, told Azerbaijani public broadcaster ITV that the men were tortured to death \u201cwithout any trial or investigation, despite their innocence.\u201d He described the raids as \u201csavagery,\u201d claiming that others were beaten and subjected to electric shocks.
\n\u201cThe so-called Russian law enforcement agencies broke into houses in the middle of the night, beat and took people away like animals,\u201d Huseynli said.
\nThe Azerbaijani government also announced the cancelation of a planned visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk. \u201cThe government of Azerbaijan does not consider it appropriate under the current circumstances for Overchuk or any other official representative of Russia to visit the country,\u201d state media reported.
\nIn a statement, Azerbaijan\u2019s Foreign Ministry said it expected \u201cthat the matter will be investigated and all perpetrators of violence brought to justice as soon as possible.\u201d
\nWithout commenting on the reported deaths, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday that the raids formed part of an investigation into previously committed crimes. Zakharova said raids and detentions targeted Russian citizens of Azerbaijani descent.
\nTies between the two countries have been strained for months. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declined an invitation to attend Russia\u2019s Victory Day parade in Moscow in May. In contrast, Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visited Baku later that month, signaling closer ties between Baku and Kyiv.
\nRelations between Moscow and Baku cooled after an Azerbaijani airliner crashed in Kazakhstan in December, killing 38 of 67 people aboard. Aliyev said it was shot down over Russia, albeit unintentionally, and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare. He accused Russia of trying to \u201chush up\u201d the incident for several days. Putin apologized to Aliyev for what he called a \u201ctragic incident\u201d but stopped short of acknowledging responsibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Azerbaijan has canceled all cultural events planned by Russian state and private institutions in protest over the deaths of two Azerbaijanis after police raids in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, Azerbaijani officials said Sunday. Azerbaijan\u2019s Culture Ministry wrote on X that concerts, exhibitions, festivals and performances were canceled on account of \u201cthe demonstrative targeted and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-487487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n