A major diplomatic clash has erupted between Azerbaijan and Russia: Russia is losing its influence and control in Asia.
On June 27, during a raid in Russian Yekaterinburg, allegedly aimed at "detaining an ethnic gang," two Azerbaijani nationals were killed, nine arrested, and several others injured.
Preliminary reports identify the victims as Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov - members of a prominent family within the Azerbaijani diaspora.
According to defense lawyers, some of the detainees were tortured: one has broken ribs, two are in critical condition in the hospital. One of the arrested persons is unable to walk; the defense claims he was tortured with electric shocks.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry voiced a strong protest to Russia, condemning the actions of Russian law enforcement as "ethnically motivated violence."
A parliamentary delegation from Azerbaijan canceled its planned visit to Russia.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture banned all cultural events, including concerts, exhibitions, and performances, organized by Russian citizens.
Prominent Azerbaijani journalist and activist Afgan Mukhtarli called for the Russian embassy to be burned down.
"Any self-respecting nation would have razed that embassy to the ground," he wrote.
A visit to Baku by a Russian Deputy Prime Minister was also canceled.
According to Azerbaijani authorities, the incident is part of a systematic campaign of pressure by Russia against the Azerbaijani community.
️ Context:
The Yekaterinburg raid has sharply escalated already strained relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.
The first visible rift came back in December, when a Russian air defense system shot down an AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) plane over Grozny. Azerbaijan is still awaiting an official response or even an apology from the Kremlin.
While the downing of the plane may have been accidental, the current actions appear to be deliberate and demonstrative: using a murder case from 2001 as a formal pretext, and carrying out the arrests with exceptional brutality.
So far, there has been no official response from Moscow to the accusations made by Baku.
The Kremlin is becoming increasingly irrelevant — and even obstructive — to official Baku.
Moscow has virtually lost its ability to influence Azerbaijan through formal channels.
The alliance between Turkey and Azerbaijan is opening up a historic opportunity to create a major oil and gas hub, one that could displace Russia on the global energy market.
Moreover, Turkey is systematically taking advantage of Russia’s waning regional influence to expand its role in the South Caucasus — and potentially, in the broader North Caucasus region as well.
If Erdoğan and Aliyev succeed in normalizing relations with Armenia (and it was announced that Azerbaijan and Armenia would start talks on signing a peace treaty soon), the only remnant of Russian influence in the region would be the Ivanishvili regime in Georgia.
It’s also worth noting that many Azerbaijani nationals hold powerful positions in Russian business circles.
Thus, the highly demonstrative crackdown on the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg may be a message from the Kremlin to Baku: stop drifting toward Turkey, or we’ll go after your top business elites.
But if Moscow is resorting to such crude methods of pressure, it suggests it has no other levers left.
This is yet another "multimove" by Putin - one that is likely to backfire and lead to a total collapse of influence instead of strengthening.
Situation with Azerbaijan is not just an isolated failure, it’s a symptom of a systemic breakdown.
: Azerbaijan's largest TV channel blamed Putin for repressions and humiliations: "What's going on, Putin? Are you that worried that Azerbaijan became a strong state for the first time in 200 years?" the TV host said and added that Russia was used to dominating the peoples it has forced to be a part of Russia.
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www.verkkouutiset.fi
www.aa.com.tr
www.eib.org
emerging-europe.com
www.iltalehti.fi
