Azerbaijans Cultural Diplomacy in Crisis Following Tragic Police Encounters

Diplomatic ties between Russia and Azerbaijan have reached a new low after the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijani individuals during extensive police operations in Yekaterinburg, Russia, last week.

On Saturday, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires, Pyotr Volokovykh, to express outrage over what it deemed the «brutal killing» of the two men during police raids on Friday. The ministry also reported that several others sustained serious injuries.

Initially, Russian authorities stated that the arrests were aimed at dismantling an “ethnic criminal group” associated with homicides from the early 2000s, confirming that those detained were Russian citizens of Azerbaijani descent. Approximately 50 individuals were arrested in total.

Authorities did not initially report any fatalities; however, by Monday, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced that one individual likely died from heart failure, while the circumstances surrounding the second death remained under investigation.

The victims, identified by Azerbaijani media as brothers Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, will have their bodies autopsied in Baku this week, as they were reportedly sent back to Azerbaijan.

In response to the diplomatic strain, Azerbaijan’s Culture Ministry announced on Sunday the cancellation of all events related to Russian culture, including concerts and exhibitions, citing «demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings» based on ethnic affiliation. Additionally, Azerbaijan’s parliament withdrew from a planned bilateral meeting set to take place in Moscow, and the government halted an official visit from Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.

Azerbaijani officials were quoted by the news agency Report as stating, “The government of Azerbaijan finds it inappropriate for Overchuk or any other Russian official to visit the country under the current circumstances.”

The Kremlin expressed its “sincere regret” regarding the cancellation of Russian cultural activities in Azerbaijan.

On the following Monday, police in Baku conducted a raid on the office of Sputnik Azerbaijan, which is the local extension of Russia’s state news outlet. Although Sputnik had officially halted operations in Azerbaijan earlier this year due to a new media law limiting foreign ownership, it continued to publish content online.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry accused the outlet of «operating through illegal financing» and also confirmed that arrests were made during the police operation.

Local reports indicated that Sputnik Azerbaijan’s editor-in-chief, Igor Kartavykh, and his deputy, Evgeny Belousov, were among those arrested on Monday. Some Azerbaijani media outlets claimed both men were affiliated with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), though this information was not officially verified.

Additionally, a third Russian journalist was detained on Monday while covering the police raid, according to the Russian state-owned Ruptly news agency.

In light of the escalating tensions, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that Azerbaijan’s ambassador in Moscow was summoned “in response to Baku’s unfriendly actions and the unlawful detention of Russian journalists.”

Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have deteriorated significantly since a tragic incident in December when Russian air defenses shot down a passenger plane traveling from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, resulting in the deaths of 38 individuals after it crashed in western Kazakhstan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended a rare apology to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev concerning the incident, yet he refrained from accepting full responsibility, explaining that the air defense systems in Chechnya were reacting to a Ukrainian drone strike at the time of the disaster.