Aliyev to skip OTS summit in Turkey due to busy work schedule - media
BAKU. Oct 29 (Interfax) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will skip a summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Turkey on October 29-30 due to a busy work schedule, the Azerbaijani news agency Report said citing sources.
On October 30, Aliyev will take part in the awards ceremony for the finalists of the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival, which are being held in Baku for the first time.
"The final match and official closing ceremony of the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku will take place on October 30. The head of state's participation in the awards ceremony was scheduled in advance," the agency said citing a source.
Aliyev instructed Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov to represent Azerbaijan at the OTS summit. Azerbaijani officials are also supposed to take an active part in other summit events.
A certain tension has emerged recently in relations between Baku and Ankara after the Azerbaijani government amended the regulations governing the appearance of students in public schools in September. The new rules prohibit students from wearing items deviating from the standardized school uniform or that are inconsistent with the secular nature of the national education system.
The decision prompted a number of Turkey's ruling party members to make sharp statements directed at Baku, calling for the policy to be reconsidered.
Azerbaijan's ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan, or YAP) responded by urging representatives of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to refrain from statements or actions that could harm relations between the two countries. Baku views the actions of Turkish ruling circles as interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs.
Furthermore, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office has placed eight Turkish citizens on an international wanted list for inciting a violent change of government and stoking religious hatred.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has designated 31 Turkish citizens as personae non gratae and barred them from entering the country, referring to some statements they made on social media and various online platforms as being directed against Azerbaijan's sovereignty, national security, constitutional order, people, and leadership. It also said some of those statements called for violently overthrowing the government and inciting religious hatred rooted in radicalism. The personae non gratae list included journalists, bloggers, television presenters, political analysts, politicians, and economists.
