Following the request from Azerbaijan, the BBC's office in Baku was closed.

Due to the verbal directive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, BBC announced it had to make a "compulsory decision" to close its office in the country.

State-controlled media reported the country's government plans to reduce the number of BBC staff in Azerbaijan to just one person.

The BBC corporation announced it had suspended the activities of its journalists in Baku until further clarification but intends to continue its reports in the Azerbaijani language.