BAKU, February 12. /TASS/. Moscow's cultural center in Baku, the Russian House, has shuttered its operations.

"The signboards have already been completely removed from the building (the day before, only the sign in Russian was taken down - TASS)," a Russian House representative told TASS.

Outside the building, posters, souvenirs on racks, and other displays have been removed from the foyer walls. The mobile exhibition has been shut down, though some items remain in place.

On Tuesday, the Russian House in Baku announced that it was taking measures to suspend its activities following a demand from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. That same day, all signage indicating the presence of the Russian House began to be removed.

Last Thursday, the spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Aykhan Hajizada, stated that Baku had sent a notification to Moscow on February 3 stating the termination of the Russian House’s activities, as it lacked registration as a legal entity.

The head of Russia’s Agency for International Humanitarian Cooperation, Yevgeny Primakov, confirmed that the cultural center in Baku had received a note from Azerbaijan stating the need for official registration. He added that the Russian House had one and a half months to vacate the rented property, as the landlord had announced plans to sell the building in the near future.