The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned Azerbaijani Ambassador Rakhman Mustafayev in response to “unfriendly actions” by Baku and the detention of Russian journalists in Azerbaijan.
“In light of unfriendly actions by Baku and the unlawful detention of Russian journalists—who had never previously faced any complaints from Azerbaijani authorities—the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry,” the ministry told TASS.
The move follows comments by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who voiced concern over the inability of Russian diplomats in Baku to contact the detained journalists—Russian citizens—over a period of several hours. She noted that the consular staff from the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan were being denied access to the journalists and that no explanation had been provided for the detention.
Background on the Incident
The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry had earlier confirmed that law enforcement carried out a raid on the Baku office of the Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency. Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT, reported that Sputnik staff had gone silent following the operation.
Sputnik’s editorial team said they had not received any official notice of restrictions on their work in Azerbaijan. According to the agency, discussions were ongoing between Russian and Azerbaijani working groups to resolve any issues related to the outlet’s activities.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on TASS materials