Azerbaijani and Chechen authorities withdraw from interethnic conflict in Moscow

The parties in the mass brawl in the Pechatniki Moscow district were natives of Chechnya and Azerbaijan; mutual insults kindled the conflict, sources have reported. Employees of the Chechnya's permanent mission and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Moscow did not contact the parties, said the sources from both institutions.

The February 15 brawl among Chechens and Azerbaijanis in Moscow broke out after a conflict in social networks, informed sources believe. Initially, the network posted an audio of a personal talk, a participant of which, a young Chechen, insultingly spoke about Azerbaijanis. Then, a video of this talk got into the network: the guy beaten by a group of unidentified person is forced to apologize for his insults. Subsequent mutual insults in social networks prompted one of the parties to organize a pogrom in the "Neolit" Cafe owned by opponents, the "haqqin.az" writes, citing its own sources.

The Chechnya's Permanent Mission under the Russian President has no information about the Chechens who took part in the mass brawl. The staff learned about the incident from media reports.

The information about the Azerbaijanis who took part in the mass brawl is checked; so far, none of the country's citizens turned to the diplomatic mission in Moscow, the spokesman of the Azerbaijani Embassy to Russia has stated.

The Azerbaijani government regards the mass brawl in Moscow as a criminal incident on domestic soil, Ali Gasanov, the assistant to the Azerbaijani President on political issues, stated on February 15, emphasizing that there is no interethnic tension among Azerbaijani and Chechen nationals.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 16, 2019 at 02:34 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.