The US and Norwegian embassies in Azerbaijan issued a statement expressing concern related to the situation in Beneniyar village of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. It is said in the statement that the diplomats of the US and Norwegian embassies went to the village on 13 January to study the situation directly.

“However, a group of residents stopped the car at the entrance of the village, threatened the diplomats and made them leave the village without having any contacts with the residents,” the statement reads. “We call on the Azerbaijani government to investigate the incident in Beneniyar village thoroughly and to provide security for foreign diplomats working in Azerbaijan.”
On 13 January, provocation was used against diplomats in the Julfa District Beneniyar village of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Several people met the foreign diplomats in the village and demanded that they leave. According to the sources in the village, most of those people were not from Beneniyar. They were brought from the neighboring Ebregunus village and some other villages.
During a Muslim ceremony, several villagers beat their chest and some of them injured their own heads. Police intervened, detained several people and took them to Julfa district Alinja Police Department on that day. The detained people were subjected to pressure there. Bananiyar village residents emphasized that Aliyev Kamal Yunus oglu was subjected to pressure more than anyone else. Then the police wanted to take them to a clinic for the mentally ill. Aliyev Kamal’s son Aliyev Yunus protested and burned himself. Before committing this action, he warned the police that he would pour petroleum on himself and burn himself. The police then told him to go ahead. Yunus took out the match and began burning himself. Then the situation became worse and police forces were brought to the village.