Azerbaijan has canceled all cultural occasions deliberate by Russian state and personal establishments in protest over the deaths of two Azerbaijani residents throughout police raids within the Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg, Azerbaijani officers mentioned Sunday.
Azerbaijan’s Tradition Ministry wrote on X that live shows, exhibitions, festivals and performances have been canceled on account of “the demonstrative focused and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence dedicated by Russian legislation enforcement companies towards Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Yekaterinburg.”
Based on Azerbaijan’s International Ministry, Russian legislation enforcement raided houses of Azerbaijani residents within the industrial metropolis in Russia’s Ural Mountains on Friday. Two Azerbaijani residents have been killed, it mentioned, together with a number of others severely injured and 9 detained.
The ministry on Saturday summoned the Russian Embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Baku, Pyotr Volokovykh, demanding a full investigation and prosecution of these accountable.
The victims have been recognized as Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, each round 60 years outdated. Their brother, Sayfaddin Huseynli, instructed Azerbaijani public broadcaster ITV that the boys have been tortured to loss of life “with none trial or investigation, regardless of their innocence.” He described the raids as “savagery,” claiming that others have been crushed and subjected to electrical shocks.
“The so-called Russian legislation enforcement companies broke into homes in the midst of the evening, beat and took folks away like animals,” Huseynli mentioned.
The Azerbaijani authorities additionally introduced the cancellation of a deliberate go to by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk. “The federal government of Azerbaijan doesn’t think about it applicable below the present circumstances for Overchuk or some other official consultant of Russia to go to the nation,” state media reported.
In an announcement, Azerbaijan’s International Ministry mentioned it anticipated “that the matter shall be investigated and all perpetrators of violence dropped at justice as quickly as potential.“
With out commenting on the reported deaths, Russian International Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mentioned Saturday that the raids fashioned a part of an investigation into beforehand dedicated crimes.
Tensions between the 2 international locations have been strained for months. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declined an invite to attend Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow in Might. In distinction, Ukraine’s Deputy International Minister Andriy Sybiga visited Baku later that month, signaling nearer ties between Baku and Kyiv.
Relations between Moscow and Baku cooled after an Azerbaijani airliner crashed in Kazakhstan in December, killing 38 of 67 folks aboard. Aliyev mentioned it was shot down over Russia, albeit unintentionally, and rendered uncontrollable by digital warfare. He accused Russia of making an attempt to “hush up” the incident for a number of days. Putin apologized to Aliyev for what he known as a “tragic incident” however stopped wanting acknowledging duty.