Russian Authorities Send Open Message to Aliyev

On September 7, a congress of the Union of Armenians of Russia and a celebration of its 25th anniversary took place in the Kremlin’s Congress Hall in Moscow. The Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia read a congratulatory message from Putin, followed by a large concert featuring Russian pop artists and Armenian children's groups. This would have been an ordinary event, had it not been for the fact that throughout Russia, representatives of the Azerbaijani community are facing criminal prosecution and are being stripped of their Russian citizenship. This is reported by the ‘Hraparak’ newspaper.

The Russian authorities are sending an open message to Aliyev that they are not willing to play by the rules dictated by him. However, since the Armenian authorities themselves are not reliable, they are trying to win over Armenians living in Russia as a counterbalance. In similar situations in the past, Russia directly supported the Armenian government, which was perceived as a warning by official Baku, prompting them to quickly restore the disrupted balance to prevent Armenians from benefiting and to ensure Russia did not make any moves in favor of Armenia.

Currently, hidden messages are being sent to Azerbaijan, and the situation has worsened significantly. For instance, properties belonging to the former son-in-law of Aliyev, Agalarov, are being nationalized; a dozen restaurants owned by Agalarov in Moscow have already been closed, and they have come to terms with the idea of losing the ‘Crocus City Hall’ and have left Russia. Two leaders of the Azerbaijani community have been stripped of citizenship, and numerous criminal cases have been initiated against ethnic Azerbaijanis, with some being detained. As a continuation of this, Russia has started to emphasize the role of the Union of Armenians of Russia, while the union's president, Ara Abrahamyan, has been afforded special treatment.