In his letter, Evgeny Novikov, noted that he traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh within the framework of the "Music for Peace" project in 2015 and was unaware of prohibition of traveling to that area without the consent of the Government of Azerbaijan, as well as the consequences of this visit, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told APA.
He underlined that this visit shall not give a meaning of disrespect for Republic of Azerbaijan and its people.
Evgeny Novikov, reaffirming his full respect to the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan expressed his apology to the Government and People of Azerbaijan for an unauthorized visit to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
He also, noted that as a result of the conflict, more than one million Azerbaijanis have become refugees and internally displaced people and more than 20,000 people have lost their lives.
In this context, Evgeny Novikov, expressed the intention of the "Music for Peace" project to visit to Baku, especially to Jojug Marjanli village in order to organize master classes and perform charity concert programs for Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced people.
Appeal by Evgeny Novikov was considered and the decision was made to remove his name from the list.
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