Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

The liquidation of All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress can cast a shadow over the trust that has been built up over the years between Azerbaijan and Russia.

The State Committee for Diaspora Affairs announced about this in a message issued on May 16 due to the annulment of the registration of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress.

The Supreme Court of Russia, on the basis of an appeal by the Justice Ministry of the Russian Federation, liquidated the registration of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress on May 15.

This decision was met with deep regret and serious concern by the entire Azerbaijani community, compatriots living in Russia, and other foreign countries.

“Despite the efforts of the relevant state structures, individual organizations of Azerbaijan, as well as the leadership of the Higher Attestation Commission, the Supreme Court of Russia backed the claim for annulment of registration of one of the largest public organizations functioning in this country," the message said.

The State Committee reiterates that this decision completely contradicts the spirit of the strategic cooperation between the two countries, and the essence of the centuries-old friendly ties between two nations.

“The liquidation of registration of the largest Diaspora organization of Azerbaijan in Russia, which carries out a mediation mission in the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, can undermine the faith in the impartiality of this country among Azerbaijani public,” the statement said.

Earlier, President of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress Fazil Gurbanov has appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to pay special attention to the situation that has emerged regarding the Congress.

The Congress, which unites more than 2 million Azerbaijanis living almost in all regions of Russia, was established in 2001 on the initiative of national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and President Vladimir Putin.

Throughout 16 years of its activity, the organization has played a huge role in strengthening of civil peace and interethnic harmony in Russia, development and deepening of socio-economic and cultural cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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