Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations fought at "Immortal Regiment" rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg

A conflict between the members of the delegations of Armenia and Azerbaijan, participating in the march of the “Immortal Regiment” in Moscow on 9 May, grew into riots. As reported by the “Caucasian Knot“, the police had to intervene in the situation, yet no detentions have been reported.

A similar conflict has also taken place in St. Petersburg that ended up with the detention of several participants from the Azerbaijani delegation.

During the marches of the “Immortal Regiment” in the two Russian capitals, Azerbaijan was represented by members of the Azerbaijani Youth Organization of Russia and the Fund for the Revival and Development of the Culture of Azerbaijan. The Armenian side was represented by members of the Union of Russian Armenians and Armenian youth organizations, including the organization “Nor Serund” in St. Petersburg.

Representatives of the Armenian Diaspora in Moscow were also carrying Nagorno-Karabakh flags along with the national flags of Armenia, accompanied by the shouting of the word “Artsakh”. The participants of the Azerbaijani delegation verbally demanded to remove the flags, since they are not related to the theme of the “Immortal Regiment” rally.

That sparked a brawl between the participants of the “Immortal Regiment”, in which several people were injured.

The Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA) reported that the Armenians “attacked the Azerbaijanis and injured some of them”. “The crowd of Azerbaijanis”, approaching the Armenian part of the procession, “provoked the fight,” Times.am asserted in the meantime. Police officers stopped the fight and separated the Armenian and Azerbaijani columns which were later accompanied by riot squad officers (OMON)

Footage from the conflict site in Moscow was published on YouTube by the InterAz channel.

The initial seconds of the video show the people near the column under the flags of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh entering into a verbal conflict and arguing in aggressive tones, but it’s difficult to make out specific phrases.

People in the column begin to move, then the angle of shooting changes: a group of people with the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh gets surrounded by police, someone throws a few bottles. The pole of Azerbaijani flag is then broken against a field kitchen container, while the participants of the scuffle throw various objects. Someone throws a flagpole. More police officers arrive upon the spot of the incident.

The raising of the flags of Nagorno-Karabakh has also provoked a conflict in St. Petersburg, where members of Armenian and Azerbaijani youth organizations participated in the march of the “Immortal Regiment”.

Arshak Hovhannisyan, co-chairman of the Nor Serund Armenian youth organization in St. Petersburg, asserts that the representatives of the Union of Azerbaijani Youth of St. Petersburg, headed by chairman Zakir Nabizade, had provoked the Armenians.

“The verbal argument turned into a small fight, but was stopped in time by riot police. All the members of the Union of Azerbaijani Youth of St. Petersburg were detained, and two of them managed to escape,” – reads the statement of Oganesyan cited by PanARMENIAN.

So far there haven’t been any comments on the conflict and detentions from members of the Union of Azerbaijani Youth and other representatives of the Azerbaijani Diaspora of St. Petersburg.