Scandal Erupts Between Russia And Azerbaijan

A renegotiation of the relationship is inevitable.

Relations between Moscow and Baku are rapidly deteriorating. Azerbaijan is canceling all Russian cultural projects and imposing restrictions against its propagandists; Russia has responded with roundups and violence against the Azerbaijani diaspora, writes "Dialogue.UA".

Experts speak of a complete rebalancing and the beginning of an underlying conflict.

Russian cancellation in Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture has announced the complete cancellation of all cultural events organized by Russian state and private structures.

The reason is systematic violence against Azerbaijanis in Russia and recent events in Yekaterinburg, where Russian security forces killed Azerbaijanis.

"Concerts, festivals, performances, exhibitions and other events are canceled," the official statement said. At the same time, Baku began banning the broadcasting of Russian propaganda channels and restricting the entry of Russian media professionals.

The escalation began with the shooting down of an airplane

The initial episode of the crisis was the crash of an Azerbaijani civilian plane shot down by the Russian military over Chechnya.

After that, Baku demanded an official apology from Moscow. The next step was mass roundups of Azeris in Yekaterinburg, where five people were reportedly killed and dozens detained and beaten.

Aliyev and Putin's friendship is over

Observers note that the era of close ties between Presidents Aliyev and Putin is a thing of the past. It is now strategically important for Baku to distance itself from the Kremlin in order to strengthen cooperation with Turkey and Europe.

Experts predict that Azerbaijan will more actively support Ukraine, continue pressure on Russian security agencies, and strengthen its influence in Armenia through Turkey.

Review of relations is inevitable

Even if there is no open hostility, the format of relations between Moscow and Baku is already changing before our eyes. Russia, in fact, is losing influence in yet another region and doing it with its own hands, conflicting with all its neighbors on the perimeter at once.

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