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STATUE OF AZERBAIJAN'S STRONGMAN THE STRING ATTACHED TO FOREIGN AID
Washington Times
Oct 3 2012
MEXICO CITY - The appearance of a life-size statue of Azerbaijan's
"founder of the nation" on Mexico City's elegant Reforma Avenue,
not far from Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Mexico's national
heroes, is raising eyebrows and protests.
The Stalin-esque, bronze statue of Geidar Aliyev, the late
authoritarian leader of the Caucasus republic, carries a plaque calling
him "a brilliant example of infinite devotion to the motherland,
loyal to the universal ideals of world peace."
The monument erected in late August shows Aliyev sitting in a bronze
chair in front of what appears to be an enormous, white marble map
of Azerbaijan.
"It is really out of place," said Miguel Angel Mendoza, an 18-year-old
high school student who was walking past the monument to the longtime
ruler, who led Azerbaijan first as Communist Party boss during Soviet
times and then as president from 1993 to 2003. "Why couldn't they
put up a monument to somebody who did something good?"
It turns out that Azerbaijan contributed much of the $5 million it
cost to renovate not one, but two Mexico City parks, allowing it to
put monuments in both.
Critics say that Aliyev, who stifled dissent, shouldn't be on a
boulevard decorated with statues to Mexican and foreign heroes.
"They probably have a warehouse full of these things somewhere" in
Azerbaijan, said Daniel Gershenson, human rights activist who was
one of about a dozen protesters who demonstrated last week in front
of the monument, holding banners that read "Get rid of the dictator!"
"It's like a personality cult, transferred to Mexico," said writer and
activist Homero Aridjis, who described the style as "social realism
from the Soviet era.
"It's as if they brought a dictator from Mars," Mr. Aridjis said. "Are
we going to be a center for monuments to dead dictators? Who's next?
Hitler? Stalin?"
It wouldn't be the first time that Azerbaijani PR efforts have
drawn criticism. Rights groups protested Azerbaijan's hosting of
the Eurovision song contest, and the radical feminist group Femen
protested its hosting this year's European Cup soccer championship.
Azerbaijan's ambassador to Mexico, Ilgar Mukhtarov, wrote that
Azerbaijan has lavished attention on Mexico because it was one of
the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan after the breakup of the
Soviet Union.
"This monument is not intended to improve anybody's reputation,
because the world's perception of Heydar [Geidar] Aliyev does not
require any rescuing," Mr. Mukhatarov said.
Aliyev's monument is surrounded by a manicured lawn and flower beds,
and many people like the new park.
Brenda Torres, a 33-year-old architect, was relaxing on one of the
four benches installed in front of the monument.
"The people who come here, they like it, right, but they don't know
who he is," said Ms. Torres.
And that's the secret to Aliyev's success - nobody really knows who
he is.
A second Azerbaijani statue appears in the other park they paid to
renovate, Tlaxcoaque park in downtown Mexico City.
It depicts a woman, her arms uplifted in mourning, commemorating
Khojaly, a village where hundreds of Azerbaijanis reportedly were
killed during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Advocates say a monument to Mexican suffering would have been more
appropriate for a site once used as a police interrogation and
torture center.
The office of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who accepted the
donations and attended the inauguration of both sites, did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
But at the inauguration of the first monument, Mr. Ebrard said
"we are very thankful to the Republic of Azerbaijan, because the
truth is we haven't received an investment this big" from a foreign
government before.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/3/statue-of-azerbaijans-strongman-the-string-attache/#ixzz28Hhu9uwW
From: A. Papazian
Washington Times
Oct 3 2012
MEXICO CITY - The appearance of a life-size statue of Azerbaijan's
"founder of the nation" on Mexico City's elegant Reforma Avenue,
not far from Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Mexico's national
heroes, is raising eyebrows and protests.
The Stalin-esque, bronze statue of Geidar Aliyev, the late
authoritarian leader of the Caucasus republic, carries a plaque calling
him "a brilliant example of infinite devotion to the motherland,
loyal to the universal ideals of world peace."
The monument erected in late August shows Aliyev sitting in a bronze
chair in front of what appears to be an enormous, white marble map
of Azerbaijan.
"It is really out of place," said Miguel Angel Mendoza, an 18-year-old
high school student who was walking past the monument to the longtime
ruler, who led Azerbaijan first as Communist Party boss during Soviet
times and then as president from 1993 to 2003. "Why couldn't they
put up a monument to somebody who did something good?"
It turns out that Azerbaijan contributed much of the $5 million it
cost to renovate not one, but two Mexico City parks, allowing it to
put monuments in both.
Critics say that Aliyev, who stifled dissent, shouldn't be on a
boulevard decorated with statues to Mexican and foreign heroes.
"They probably have a warehouse full of these things somewhere" in
Azerbaijan, said Daniel Gershenson, human rights activist who was
one of about a dozen protesters who demonstrated last week in front
of the monument, holding banners that read "Get rid of the dictator!"
"It's like a personality cult, transferred to Mexico," said writer and
activist Homero Aridjis, who described the style as "social realism
from the Soviet era.
"It's as if they brought a dictator from Mars," Mr. Aridjis said. "Are
we going to be a center for monuments to dead dictators? Who's next?
Hitler? Stalin?"
It wouldn't be the first time that Azerbaijani PR efforts have
drawn criticism. Rights groups protested Azerbaijan's hosting of
the Eurovision song contest, and the radical feminist group Femen
protested its hosting this year's European Cup soccer championship.
Azerbaijan's ambassador to Mexico, Ilgar Mukhtarov, wrote that
Azerbaijan has lavished attention on Mexico because it was one of
the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan after the breakup of the
Soviet Union.
"This monument is not intended to improve anybody's reputation,
because the world's perception of Heydar [Geidar] Aliyev does not
require any rescuing," Mr. Mukhatarov said.
Aliyev's monument is surrounded by a manicured lawn and flower beds,
and many people like the new park.
Brenda Torres, a 33-year-old architect, was relaxing on one of the
four benches installed in front of the monument.
"The people who come here, they like it, right, but they don't know
who he is," said Ms. Torres.
And that's the secret to Aliyev's success - nobody really knows who
he is.
A second Azerbaijani statue appears in the other park they paid to
renovate, Tlaxcoaque park in downtown Mexico City.
It depicts a woman, her arms uplifted in mourning, commemorating
Khojaly, a village where hundreds of Azerbaijanis reportedly were
killed during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Advocates say a monument to Mexican suffering would have been more
appropriate for a site once used as a police interrogation and
torture center.
The office of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who accepted the
donations and attended the inauguration of both sites, did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
But at the inauguration of the first monument, Mr. Ebrard said
"we are very thankful to the Republic of Azerbaijan, because the
truth is we haven't received an investment this big" from a foreign
government before.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/3/statue-of-azerbaijans-strongman-the-string-attache/#ixzz28Hhu9uwW
From: A. Papazian