Head of Azerbaijani diaspora in Samara stripped of Russian citizenship

Shirvan Karimov, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia's Samara Region, has been stripped of his Russian citizenship.

The head of the diaspora is currently in Azerbaijan, Caliber.Az reports per local media.

The notification informing him of the revocation of his Russian citizenship was reportedly sent while he was outside Russia and staying in Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia has reportedly faced sustained pressure for more than a year, with a series of measures targeting prominent community leaders across several regions of the country.

During this period, Russian authorities have revoked the citizenship of the heads of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations in multiple regions, including Moscow, and initiated deportation proceedings against several of them.

Among the most notable cases was that of Bakhtiyar Hasanov, chairman of the Moscow Azerbaijani National Cultural Autonomy, whose Russian citizenship was revoked last September. More recently, reports indicated that Hasanov had been placed in a temporary migrant detention centre pending his deportation from Russia.

By Vafa Guliyeva