Sverdlovsk Governor Apologizes to Baku for Yekaterinburg City Duma Speaker

The governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Yevgeny Kuyvashev, discussed with the ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Polad Bul-Bul oglu the scandal with the chairman of the Yekaterinburg City Duma, Igor Volodin. On August 7, he attended the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the formation of the unrecognized Talysh-Mugan Autonomous Republic (TMAR), the founders of which are considered separatists in Azerbaijan. After that, the Azerbaijani embassy sent a note of protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Department of Information Policy of the region reported that Yevgeny Kuyvashev apologized to the representative of Azerbaijan and expressed hope for a resolution of the conflict. According to Kommersant’s source in the regional government, Igor Volodin will not be a speaker in the new convocation (elections will be held in September) of the Yekaterinburg City Duma.

The Azerbaijani Embassy announced a note of protest on 27 August. In an official statement, the diplomats indicated that the action of Igor Volodin, a representative of the ruling party of Russia, “propagates separatism, fundamentally contradicts the spirit of allied interaction between Azerbaijan and Russia, and also damages bilateral cooperation.”

Igor Volodin previously told Kommersant that he did not understand the reasons for the outrage over this incident. “When I receive invitations from representatives of any nationalities that live with us, I come there and congratulate. I didn’t understand what the event was about. An invitation comes – I respond to it. What claims can be against me? I came there, congratulated, and left after 20 minutes, ”he noted. Mr. Volodin also suggested that this scandal may be related to the upcoming elections to the City Duma.

Read more about the scandal – in the material “Kommersant” “Scandal by Invitation”.

Ilya Smirnov, Yekaterinburg