Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry calls All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress abolition unfriendly step
BAKU. Sept 19 (Interfax) - The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry views the ruling of the Russian Supreme Court, which had upheld the court of first instance's decision to abolish the non-governmental organization All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress, as an unfriendly step, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev said.
The Russian Supreme Court upheld the legitimacy of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress' abolition on Tuesday.
"In political terms we view this ruling as an unfriendly step. This decision deals a serious blow to development of two countries' strategic partnership at the highest level," Hajiyev said in an interview with the Azertag state news agency.
"While an unfair ruling is used against representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia, the Union of Armenians of Russia is fully supported and continues its work. In any case, we are baffled and regret the adopted decision to abolish the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress," he said.
Meanwhile Nazim Ibrahimov, the chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with the Diaspora, has expressed regret over the fact that the Russian Supreme Court upheld the court of first instance's decision to abolish the non-governmental organization All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress.
"The court's ruling is deeply regrettable. The adopted decision in no way corresponds to the spirit of strategic partnership that exists between our countries," Ibrahimov said in a statement on Tuesday.
He said he is confident that the leadership of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress would defend its rights to the end.
The issue of the congress was discussed with representatives of Russian state agencies at various levels, and the Russian side was informed about the concerns of the Azerbaijani state and public regarding this "extremely sensitive matter," he said.
"Despite that, that the appeals court maintained the ruling of the first instance court on the abolition of the congress confirms once again that there exist powers interested in the deterioration of relations between our countries," he said.
"Undoubtedly, the abolition of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress serves the interests of powers intent on weakening our countries' mutual confidence, as well as state relations," Ibrahimov said.
The All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress was created in 2001.