News - Azerbaijani ambassador announces Russia’s wish to open consulate general in Karabakh but then blames TASS

In an interview with the Russian TASS news agency, the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, said that Russia expressed its desire to open a general consulate in Nagorno-Karabakh. "The head of the [Russian] Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, Grigory Karasin, had said earlier that preparations for the opening of the Russian consulate general in [Nagorno-Karabakh capital] Khankendi [i.e. Stepanakert] will begin soon. Is there a decision as to when the Russian consulate general will be opened in Karabakh?" TASS had asked Bulbuloglu. "The Russian Federation has expressed its desire to open a consulate [in Nagorno-Karabakh] because we [i.e. Azerbaijan] have two consulates in Russia: in Yekaterinburg and Saint Petersburg. Considering the size of Russia and the number of Azerbaijanis in your country, it is natural. But in Azerbaijan, the field of work of consulates is more limited. But even so, the work is going in that direction, options are being offered. That matter is under discussion," Bulbuloglu had responded, TASS reports. Later, however, the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia stated in an interview with the Azerbaijani Haqqin.az news agency that TASS had "distorted" his words in the context of the opening of a Russian consulate general in Azerbaijan. "I did not say that a Russian consulate general may appear in Karabakh. I said that this matter is under discussion," Bulbuloglu said. But the difference between the words "may appear" and "is under discussion" remains a strict secret.