As of December 2016, 623 individuals have been listed as
personae non gratae
in Azerbaijan.
The most recent individual to be added to the list is the new French Minister of Internal Affairs, Bruno le Roux, reports
contact.az.
Le Roux was added to the list for a visit to Nagorno Karabakh in September of 2015.
Per the website of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its
“Warning for the foreign nationalist wishing to travel to the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan”
, the illegal visitation by foreigners to the occupied territories of Nagorno Karabakh is forbidden by the Azerbaijani government.
While many on the list are tourists, journalists, election monitors and researchers, the list has continually expanded in recent years to also include foreign dignitaries and diplomats traveling to Nagorno Karabakh on official state business.
Azerbaijani investigative journalist and radio reporter Khadija Ismayilova has suggested that the list also includes individuals who have been banned from the country for other reasons, including speaking out against and criticizing the state of human rights in the country and supporting the cause of Armenian genocide recognition.
In February 2015, the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hikmet Hajiyev,
stated
that the number of
personae non gratae
in Azerbaijan was 435.
Nationals of more than 30 countries are included in the list, including from Russia, France, the USA, the UK, Switzerland, Iran, Turkey, Somalia, Cyprus, Georgia, Australia and Uruguay.
