Russian citizens with Armenian surnames are subjected to ethnic discrimination in Azerbaijan
Russian media outlets have recently voiced cases of violations of rights of Russian citizens with Armenian surnames arriving in Azerbaijan. On the issue the MFA of Russia has issued a statement: “In response to numerous media questions about a ban on the entry to Azerbaijan for Russian citizens, we must state that the citizens of Russia going to that country are indeed subject to ethnic discrimination. Since the start of this year, 25 Russian citizens have been denied entry into Azerbaijan. They were, on average, detained for many hours at the Baku airport (in a number of cases, without food, water or medical assistance, and in one case the detained person was a woman with a four-year-old child) and then forced to leave at their own expense. The “grounds” for these outrages were Armenian surnames, first names or the patronymics of our citizens. But there were also cases where persons with Russian last names, names and patronymics were questioned to identify their “Armenian ancestry.” All of this looks preposterous, not to mention the fact that it is a direct violation of Russian citizens’ rights contrary to the letter and spirit of the Russia-Azerbaijan Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security of July 3, 1997, the Intergovernmental Agreement on Visa-Free Travel of July 3, 1997, and the Declaration on Friendship and Strategic Partnership between Russia and Azerbaijan of July 3, 2008. The Russian Embassy in Baku and the Russian Foreign Ministry have issued several notes, demanding that an end be put to this outrageous practice, followed by an investigation and due inquiry into the behaviour of the officials at Heydar Aliyev International Airport. We have proceed from the assumption that, as Azerbaijan presents itself, the country is a model of ethnic and religious tolerance and multiculturalism, that recently declared its intention to establish an Azerbaijani-Armenian public dialogue. But our expectations have failed to materialise. There was no investigation of these incidents. A reply from Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry says “Azerbaijan must apply the relevant regulations to a number of persons to prevent undesirable excesses.” We regard this reply as vague and unsatisfactory. Unfortunately, it shows that Russian citizens arriving in Azerbaijan still run the risk of falling victim to arbitrary treatment. We continue to demand an end to these outrageous and discriminatory practices that are incompatible with the friendly relations between the two countries. We will certainly draw conclusions from the existing situation.”
