Baku includes Russian singer to 'black list'

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan has included Russian opera singer Ljubov Kazarnovskaya in the list of undesirable people of the Azerbaijani foreign ministry.

Hikmat Hajiyev, the spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said Kazarnovskaya violated the law on "State border of Azerbaijan".

“Kazarnovskaya illegally paid a visit to the territory of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia. Her name will be included in a list of undesirable people of the Azerbaijani foreign ministry,” he said on July 6.

Hajiyev also criticized Russian opera singer for her statements in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.

“Whereas the artists must serve to peace and reconciliation, Kazarnovskaya’s statement in the occupied territories of the country encourage the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, as well as ethnic cleansing committed against the Azerbaijani people in the occupied territories, as well as on the territory of Armenia,” he said.

The Armenian media reported that in addition to master classes for the separatists, the singer intends to open "Center of the Opera" in the occupied territories.

“While talking about the establishment of a music school in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Kazarnovskaya must know that the material and cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people, including the Karabakh School of Music, which left the great artists , was destroyed as a result of Armenian occupation,” Hajiyev said.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to illegal activities in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent illegal actions and visits.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and individuals who pay such visits are included in Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's "black list".

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats against such unauthorized visits to those territories under Armenian occupation; calling them contradictory to international laws.