Baku removes Russian politician from “black list”
By Laman Sadigova
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has excluded Andrey Bogdanov, the Russian ex-presidential candidate, from the list of "undesirable people".
Bogdanov’s name was included in the Foreign Ministry’s “black list” due to his illegal visit to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly one million were displaced as a result of the war. Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions are temporarily out of the control of Azerbaijan as a result of Armenia’s aggression.
Bogdanov, who ran for the post of the Russian president in 2008, appealed to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry with a request to exclude his name from Baku’s “black list”.
In his letter, Bogdanov said that he recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and has paid a visit to the occupied territories of the country, not knowing about possible consequences.
Bogdanov regretted visiting Nagorno-Karabakh, saying he didn’t try to promote the separatist regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. His appeal has been studied in the proper way and it was decided to exclude his name from the list of "undesirable persons", the Foreign Ministry reported.
Andrey Bogdanov is the leader of the Democratic Party of Russia and a Freemason, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia.
Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan are considered illegal and individuals who pay such visits are included in the ministry’s “black list”.
The list of persona non grata banned from visiting Azerbaijan includes MPs, businessmen, journalists, entertainers, and others, who violated Azerbaijan’s borders and showed disrespect to the sovereignty and territorial unity of the country.
Large-scale hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.
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Follow Laman Sadigova on Twitter: @s_laman93
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