Azerbaijan blacklists Russian opera singer over illegal visit to Karabakh

She is "unwelcome" because her Azerbaijani visit violated Azerbaijan's border law and "promoted Armenia’s aggression and occupation against Azerbaijan," including its "bloody ethnic cleansing" of Azerbaijanis, said ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev.

Kazarnovskaya said she went to Nagorno-Karabakh "on a cultural mission". 

She said she was happy to keep company with Montserrat Caballe, who was also blacklisted.

"The human spirit is beyond any politics or aggression. Music is something that the Lord bestowed on us," she said.

Kazarnovskaya attended the festival along with many of her students.