Moscow slams Baku's treatment of Russians with Armenian rootsJanuary 11, 2019 - 16:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan's detention and expulsion of Russian citizens on a national basis is a gross violation of their rights, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing when asked about complaints on non-admission of people of Armenian nationality to Baku. The border service of Azerbaijan has a record of denying entry to citizens of various countries due to their Armenian heritage. "I have seen a large number of messages, including on social networks. Such incidents happened during the holidays, we have registered similar cases earlier too," Zakharova was quoted as saying by Sputnik Armenia. "We regularly raised the issue to the Azerbaijani side, maintaining that such cases are becoming a tradition, unfortunately a wrong one. "The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly drawn the attention of the Azerbaijani side to the unacceptability of the situation. We have demanded that they stop this practice - both detentions and expulsions. It is incompatible with the friendly relations between the countries," the spokeswoman said. "The Russian side has received assurances from the Azerbaijani authorities that the situation will be rectified." Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills |