MOSCOW. July 5 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry deems the Azerbaijani response to its request for stopping discrimination of Russian citizens of Armenian ancestry arriving in Baku Airport to be indistinct and unsatisfactory.
"There have been numerous demands, including official notes sent by the Russian Embassy in Baku and the Russian Foreign Ministry, that this outrageous practice stop, an inquiry be held, and the conduct of officials at Heydar Aliyev International Airport be properly assessed," the ministry said.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry responded that "Azerbaijan had to apply relevant regulations to a number of persons in order to prevent undesirable incidents," it said.
"We deem this reply to be indistinct and unsatisfactory. Regretfully, it proves that Russian citizens arriving Azerbaijan are still running the risk of being a victim of arbitrary actions," the ministry said.
"We continue to insist that the outrageous discriminative practice, which is incompatible with friendly relations between the two countries, must stop," the ministry said.
"We have to state that Russian citizens arriving in Azerbaijan are actually subjected to ethnic discrimination. Twenty-five Russian citizens have been denied entry by Azerbaijan since the beginning of this year," the ministry said.
Russian citizens with Armenian first, middle or last names were 'held' at Baku Airport for hours and "were forced to leave at their own expense", the ministry said.