Russian House in Baku suspends its activities

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian cultural center, the Russian House in Baku, announced on Tuesday that it is taking steps to suspend its activities in response to a demand from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

"In response to the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo -- the Russian House in Baku -- is taking measures to suspend its operations," the organization said on Facebook.

Earlier in the day, the Russian House reported that work had begun to remove the inscriptions from the building housing the organization.

On Thursday, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh announced that Baku had sent a note to the Russian side on Feb. 3, demanding the cessation of the Russian House’ activities due to its failure to register as a legal entity.

Yevgeny Primakov, the head of the Russian cultural center, confirmed the receipt of the note from Azerbaijan, emphasizing the need for the Russian House to register as a legal entity in accordance with local law.

Primakov also noted that the Russian House in Azerbaijan would have to vacate its rented premises within the next one and a half months, following the landlord's intention to sell the property in the near future.

The Russian House is a government agency responsible for fostering the country's ties with the countries in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), as well as promoting Russian language, culture, and education abroad. It also supports the Russian diaspora and works on international development and humanitarian projects.