Baku threatens to include Russian singer Valdis Pelsh in "black list" for visiting Karabakh

Recent reports disseminated by Armenian mass media, according to which Russian showman Valdis Pelsh has on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the declaration of independence of the Republic of Nagorno arrived in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh, have raised concerns in Azerbaijan.

Particularly, Azerbaijani 1news.az contacted Union of TV anchors of Russia and asked comments on Pelsh's reported visit to Stepanakert, which has raised eyebrows in the Union.

With no satisfactory explanation the website contacted also RU-CONCERT, an organization which is acting as the official agent in organizing Pelsh's concerts.

The organization told 1news.az that it could not help them in any way, pointing to the fact that Mr Pelsh is their client, and that they are obliged not to publish any commercial secret.

With long attempts to get any news about Mr Pelsh's reported visit to Karabakh the website turned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. FM Spokesperson Elhan Polukhov told the website that the Azerbaijani authorities will include Valdis Pelsh in the so-called "black list" and that he will be declared as an "undesirable person" in Azerbaijan should it turn out that he visited what he called "the occupied territories of Azerbaijan."

Last year the "black list" of Azerbaijan was completed by famous Russian singer Nadejda Babkina and the "Chai v Dvoyom" (Tea Together) group after they visited Karabakh and performed in a concert held in Stepanakert on the occasion of the declaration of independence.