Baku rejects Russian envoy's criticism over cancellation of cultural events

Azerbaijan has dismissed remarks by Mikhail Shvydkoy, the Russian president’s special representative for international cultural cooperation, over the cancellation of Russian cultural events in the country, calling his comments “unacceptable and misleading.”

In a statement on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said Shvydkoy's claims, made during an interview with Interfax, distorted Azerbaijan’s decision to suspend Russian state and private cultural programs in response to recent incidents in Russia.

"The demonstrative and deliberate acts of extrajudicial killing and violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies in Yekaterinburg against Azerbaijanis on the basis of their ethnic identity have rightfully provoked strong protest and condemnation from Azerbaijan," Hajizada said.

He added that the decision to cancel cultural events was a “lawful and adequate step” in light of the “serious blow” these incidents dealt to bilateral relations with Moscow.

Responding to Shvydkoy’s assertion that the cancellations had “impoverished Azerbaijan’s cultural environment,” Hajizada noted that Azerbaijan’s millennia-old cultural heritage was a source of national pride and global admiration.

“We do not think that concert programs by Russian singers such as Basta have impoverished Azerbaijan’s cultural landscape,” he said.

Azerbaijan continues to take pride in its rich literature, art, music, and cultural monuments, the spokesperson added.

N.Tebrizli