Tweet
MEXICO CITY APPOINTS PANEL TO REVIEW CONTROVERSIAL STATUE
U-T San Diego
Oct 24 2012
CA
MEXICO CITY - Mexico City's government has appointed a committee to
review and recommend a solution to the controversy over a life-size
statue of Azerbaijan's "founder of the nation" recently erected on
the city's main boulevard, authorities said Monday.
The Stalin-esque bronze statue of late authoritarian leader Geidar
Aliyev was erected by the Azerbaijan Embassy, which paid for the
renovation of part of the city park where it sits.
A second statue donated by the Caucasus republic appears in another
park they paid to renovate in downtown Mexico City.
Protesters have said they're offended by a monument to an authoritarian
figure such as Aliyev, who led Azerbaijan first as Communist Party
boss during Soviet times and then as president from 1993 to his death
in 2003.
The city's leftist government said it had appointed a three-member
commission of academics and experts to review complaints about the
statues.
Felipe Leal, the head of the city's department of urban development
and housing, said the commission should look at the monument "with
objectivity, a critical eye, to recommend what should be done in
this case."
Associated Press
The secretary of Azerbaijan's ambassador in Mexico, Manuel Luna,
suggested the city could run into problems if it removed the statue
in the park.
"The project in the park involved a signed agreement that stipulates
the statue must remain in place for 99 years," Luna told local media,
adding the issue "could affect our diplomatic relations."
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."
The second Azerbaijani statue downtown depicts a woman, her arms
uplifted in mourning, commemorating Khojaly, a village where hundreds
of Azerbaijanis were reportedly 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.
Members of the Armenian community also said the second statue's
reference to "genocide" in Khojaly cannot be compared to the mass
killings of some 1.5 million Armenians in the region in 1915.
Associated Press
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/24/tp-mexico-city-appoints-panel-to-review/
U-T San Diego
Oct 24 2012
CA
MEXICO CITY - Mexico City's government has appointed a committee to
review and recommend a solution to the controversy over a life-size
statue of Azerbaijan's "founder of the nation" recently erected on
the city's main boulevard, authorities said Monday.
The Stalin-esque bronze statue of late authoritarian leader Geidar
Aliyev was erected by the Azerbaijan Embassy, which paid for the
renovation of part of the city park where it sits.
A second statue donated by the Caucasus republic appears in another
park they paid to renovate in downtown Mexico City.
Protesters have said they're offended by a monument to an authoritarian
figure such as Aliyev, who led Azerbaijan first as Communist Party
boss during Soviet times and then as president from 1993 to his death
in 2003.
The city's leftist government said it had appointed a three-member
commission of academics and experts to review complaints about the
statues.
Felipe Leal, the head of the city's department of urban development
and housing, said the commission should look at the monument "with
objectivity, a critical eye, to recommend what should be done in
this case."
Associated Press
The secretary of Azerbaijan's ambassador in Mexico, Manuel Luna,
suggested the city could run into problems if it removed the statue
in the park.
"The project in the park involved a signed agreement that stipulates
the statue must remain in place for 99 years," Luna told local media,
adding the issue "could affect our diplomatic relations."
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."
The second Azerbaijani statue downtown depicts a woman, her arms
uplifted in mourning, commemorating Khojaly, a village where hundreds
of Azerbaijanis were reportedly 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.
Members of the Armenian community also said the second statue's
reference to "genocide" in Khojaly cannot be compared to the mass
killings of some 1.5 million Armenians in the region in 1915.
Associated Press
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/24/tp-mexico-city-appoints-panel-to-review/