Baku removes Russian singer’s name from 'black list'
By Gunay Camal
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has excluded the name of a Russian singer from its list of “undesirable persons”.
The singer, former member of “Chay vdvoem” group and founder of “A-Dessa” project, Stanislav Kostyushkin, was included to the ministry’s list of undesirable persons for illegally visiting Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia.
“Kostyushkin addressed an official letter to the Foreign Ministry asking for removal of his name from the “List of Foreign citizens who illegally visited occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The singer reaffirmed his full respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders, its laws and regulations. “Kostyushkin pointed out that his visit to the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan by Armenia was not intentional and he was unaware about the consequences of that visit. He stressed that the visit should not give a meaning of his disrespect to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” the Ministry said.
Despite Baku’s repeated calls to refrain from visiting country’s Armenia-occupied territories, unfortunately some foreign individuals not being aware of it visit these territories and become persona non grata in Azerbaijan.
Kostyushkin noted that his visit in no way served a purpose of recognizing the regime created in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories, not contributed to the promotion of the illegal regime and apologized to the people of Azerbaijan.
After the review of the appeal by Stanislav Kostyushkin, hewas removed from the list of undesirable persons.
Under Azerbaijan’s national laws, any illegal activity in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan can be cause for a prosecution. Also, unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan are considered illegal and individuals who pay such visits are included in Azerbaijani foreign ministry’s “black list.”
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.
Large-scale hostilities 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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