radical elements within his constituency" in chase of "ethnic votes and disregarding international law." Shafiyev also claimed Karygiannis's entry to Nagorno-Karabakh was "illegal", as he had not obtained a visa or special permission from the Azerbaijani government to travel there, and that his stay on the disputed territory was paid for by the government of Armenia. In response, Karygiannis who had been aware of Azerbaijan's objections to his visit affirmed his decision and offered to be invited to Azerbaijan as an observer for the next election, which Shafiyev turned down as unlikely, saying Karygiannis would be declared persona non grata and denied any future entry in Azerbaijan. On August 1, members of Toronto's Azeri community held a protest in front of the office of the Liberal Party about Karygiannis's visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. In February 2013, Karygiannis was accused of using his political position to intervene to facilitate the passage of five Greek musicians into Canada. He was reported to have misinformed the authorities about the purpose of their visit, stating they had intended to participate in his father's wake, when in fact they were coming to Canada to perform at a paid concert. Karygiannis did not comment other than confirming that he had intervened in the matter but "did not profit from it". City councillor On December 1, 2014, Karygiannis joined the Toronto city council as the elected councillor for ward 39. He was re-elected in 2018 in the redistricted ward 22. Karygiannis was appointed to the Toronto licensing and standards committee – which deals with taxi regulations. He is a vocal opponent of Uber, Karygiannis is a lifelong personal friend of Co-Op Cab company CEO Peter Zahakos. Zahakos has made donations to Karygiannis, and is a lobbyist on taxi licensing issues. An examination by The Globe and Mail found that Karygiannis has received at least $7600 in campaign donations in 2014 from people connected to the taxi industry, about 10% of his total fundraising, and further found that Karygiannis had received donations from 12 individuals with the same last name and address, a house owned by an official with Diamond Taxi. In February 2016, Karygiannis brought up the possibility of banning recording artist Beyoncé from Canada. The Super Bowl 50 halftime entertainer had a routine which paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Black Panthers. Karygiannis went public with his interpretation of the routine as "anti-policy" and "pro-gun