Armenian ambassador alleged Azerbaijani counterpart threatened to kill him in Brussels bust up

BRUSSELS — The Armenian Embassy has lodged a formal protest with other diplomatic missions in Brussels after its ambassador claimed to have been on the receiving end of death threats from his Azerbaijani counterpart.

A letter circulated to envoys last week, seen by POLITICO, alleged that Armenian Ambassador Tigran Balayan was “verbally attacked and intimidated” by Azerbaijani Ambassador Vaqif Sadiqov, who “voiced explicit threats against his life.”

The incident is said to have happened at a reception at the Tangla Hotel in Brussels, hosted by the Turkish Embassy in honor of the country’s national day. It is understood to have been the first Ankara-sponsored engagement the Armenian Embassy had been invited to since a 2020 war between the country and Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey.

However, speaking to POLITICO, Sadiqov denied the incident had taken place, saying such allegations were “becoming ridiculous.” According to him, the reception had “good food, nice people” and was a “standard diplomatic event as usual.”

“I am not aware of any letter or allegation — Armenian diplomats can claim whatever they want,” he added.

The Armenian Embassy declined to comment further on the exchange. The Turkish Embassy did not immediately reply to a request for information.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been bitter foes since the fall of the Soviet Union, fighting a series of wars since the 1990s over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh that left hundreds of thousands displaced on both sides.

A 44-day conflict in 2020 saw Azerbaijan take back control of swathes of Armenian occupied territory and, in September last year, Azerbaijani forces began a final assault on the mountainous area that triggered a mass exodus of its 100,000 ethnic Armenian residents, sparking allegations of ethnic cleansing.

The European Parliament has consistently called on Azerbaijan to respect the rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, as well as condemning Azerbaijan’s domestic human rights record.

A growing row between Brussels and Baku over its crackdown on activists and journalists has ignited in recent weeks, just as Western leaders prepared to fly to the country for critical climate talks as part of the United Nations-organized COP29 conference.

Sadiqov drew criticism from the European Union last year over a social media post where he appeared to threaten a delegation of MEPs visiting Armenia alongside Balayan with being shot.

“The Istiglal IST-14.5 anti-materiel sniper rifle produced in Azerbaijan has the effective firing range of about 3,000 meters,” he wrote underneath a post that showed the European politicians posing along the tense frontier. “Guys, keep clear of Azerbaijani state border.”