Russian citizens included in Baku's 'black list'

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani foreign ministry has included two Russian citizens in its “black list” for illegal visits to the occupied territories.

Hikmet Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign said the names of Russian opera singer Lyubov Kazarnovskaya and entrepreneur German Sterligov have been included in the list of undesirable people of the ministry.

Sterligov left Russia and went to Nagorno-Karabakh, the businessman’s lawyer told BBC on July 6. Sterligov put up his livestock and vehicle fleet for sale before leaving.

"Sterligov has a controversial biography. Before going to the territories of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, he could not be unaware that these territories are a favorable place for money laundering through the banking system of Armenia and criminal activity," Hajiyev told Trend on July 10.

He went on to say that Sterligov is notorious for his inflammatory statements on ethnic and religious grounds.

“Being in Azerbaijani town of Shusha occupied by Armenia, his statements about "human values" are beyond any moral, ethical and legal framework. The person speaking of "human values" would have understood that more than one million Azerbaijani people have been expelled as a result of Armenia's bloody ethnic cleansing peculiar to the fascist ideology,” 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.

Hajiyev further noted that Sterligov’s provocative statement on holding a press-conference in the occupied territories is nothing else but an unsuccessful attempt to self-promotion and advertising of the criminal regime, in which he is involved.

He also called on media representatives not to make illegal visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"The Azerbaijani foreign ministry urges the media representatives not to succumb to provocations and to reject the illegal visits to the occupied territories," Hajiyev said.

The media representatives’ visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijani are a gross violation of the law on the state border of Azerbaijan and accreditation rules envisaged for the foreign media representatives. The ministry warned that if they make illegal visits, these media representatives will be included in a list of undesirable people.

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".