RIA Novosti Blocked in Azerbaijan Following Interview with Artak Beglaryan

The Russian news agency RIA Novosti has been blocked in Azerbaijan as of yesterday evening. This comes in light of the extensive interview published by RIA Novosti with the State Minister of Artsakh, Artak Beglaryan, just hours prior to the site’s accessibility being revoked in the authoritarian state of Azerbaijan. This was reported by the Azerbaijani APA agency.

The media outlet confirmed that the reason for the blockage was exclusively the interview that Artak Beglaryan gave to RIA Novosti, particularly the repeated mention of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani APA noted, “The news agency has once again cast doubt on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity by naming the region under the temporary control of Russian peacekeepers as the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, and referring to Artak Beglaryan as a state minister.”

This action by RIA Novosti has sparked a sharp backlash in Azerbaijan. Some media outlets have called for a proportional response to this move by blocking RIA Novosti as well as the Azerbaijani Sputnik agency. “What the Russian state agency disseminates, targeting Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, promotes separatist sentiments, contradicts the spirit of brotherly relations between the two countries, and thus causes serious regret. The dissemination of RIA Novosti’s ‘provocative’ statements undermines Russia’s efforts to establish peace in the region,” stated a message from the occupying Azerbaijani foreign ministry.