The head of Azerbaijan's state broadcaster has questioned the vote tally in the Eurovision Song Contest where it embarrassingly gave "nul points" to the entry from neighbouring Russia.
The broadcaster is claiming votes for Russia were apparently not taken into account.
"It is of serious concern and surprise that at the final count of votes from Azerbaijan, Russia was not given any points," director Camil Guliyev said in a statement on Monday.
In fact, Russia's entry by singer Dina Garipova received the second highest number of votes submitted via mobile phone text messages and high marks from the country's professional jury, he claimed, hinting at vote violations.
"We sincerely hope that this incident, possibly initiated by certain interest groups, will not cast a shadow over the brotherly relations of the Russian and Azerbaijani peoples," he said, without blaming anyone specifically.
