Epress.am News from Armenia
Some 100 Azerbaijani citizens have been evacuated from Egypt on a special charter flight that landed in Baku today, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service reports.
The plane was also carrying home the body of Nijat Qocayev, a 25-year-old accountant at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Cairo who was shot dead during the days of demonstrations against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
A young woman in the Baku airport arrivals hall told RFE/RL she was waiting for her brother, a student at Baku’s Islamic University who had traveled to Egypt two months ago to study.
Most of those evacuated were students; some were diplomatic personnel.
Hikmat Haciyev, the first secretary at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Cairo, told RFE/RL the evacuations were necessary for security reasons. He said the embassy in Cairo will remain open.
On Jan. 29, the Foreign Ministry warned Azerbaijanis to postpone visits to Egypt because of the political turmoil. The ministry also advised Azerbaijanis living in Egypt to abide by the law and avoid becoming involved in the unrest.
Photo: Azadliq (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service)