Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry's Strong Response to Russia

The comments made by Mikhail Shvydkoy, the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for international cultural cooperation, regarding the cancellation of cultural events that were set to take place in Azerbaijan involving Russian state and private institutions, as well as his attempts to distort the decision of the Azerbaijani side, are unacceptable. This was stated by the spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Chaykhan Haji-zadeh.

“The deliberate and judicially unaccounted murders and acts of violence against Azerbaijanis by Russian law enforcement agencies in the city of Yekaterinburg, due to their ethnic affiliation, have provoked just indignation and condemnation from Azerbaijan. Against the backdrop of these events that have dealt a blow to bilateral relations with Russia, the decision to cancel cultural events is a fully legitimate and adequate step. As for the opinions that the cancellation of Russian cultural events “impoverishes Azerbaijan's cultural environment and landscape,” we note that Mr. Shvydkoy’s aforementioned biased opinions, who has repeatedly stated during his visits to Azerbaijan that he admires our country’s high culture, are surprising. According to Shvydkoy, we do not believe that concert programs of Russian singers like Basti rich in Russian culture impoverish our country’s cultural landscape. The millennium-old developing Azerbaijani culture is an example for many states and peoples. Azerbaijan rightly takes pride in its unique historical and material-cultural monuments, rich literature, arts, and music,” said the spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.