Azerbaijan has handed a note of protest to US charge d’affaires over poker star Dan Bilzerian’s visit to Nagorno Karabakh, according to reports in Azerbaijani media.
The US charge d’affaires in Azerbaijan was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesman of the ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said.
The charge d’affaires was handed a note from the Foreign Ministry addressed to the US Department of State in connection with the “illegal trip of a US citizen, named Dan Bilzerian, to Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.
The Azerbaijani side claims Bilzerian “illegally acquired firearms, openly and for provocative purposes opened fire at the positions of Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces.”
Dan Bilzerian paid a three-day visit to Armenia, where he gained Armenian citizenship and registered for military service. He then headed for Nagorno Karabakh, where he demonstrated his shooting skills at a shooting range.
Following the visit the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan initiated a criminal case and issued an arrest warrant for Bilzerian for having visited Nagorno Karabakh.
