Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Heydar Aliyev and Armenian Flag Make Joint Appearance

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Heydar Aliyev and Armenian Flag Make Joint Appearance

    EurasiaNet.org, NY
    May 20 2013


    Heydar Aliyev and Armenian Flag Make Joint Appearance


    Tbilisi's Old Town has long been an area where ethnic Armenians,
    Azeris, Jews, Kurds, and Georgians intermingle.

    There's the Azeri teahouse run by ethnic Armenians on one street, and,
    on another, one run by ethnic Azeris, where an ethnic Armenian
    waitress serves customers.

    A mosque frequented mainly by ethnic Azeri Muslims sits atop a hill
    just a few minutes away from an Armenian church where Sayat Nova, the
    18th century troubadour who wrote songs and poetry mainly in Azeri, is
    buried.

    A statue to Sergei Paradjanov, the surrealist ethnic Armenian
    filmmaker whose last film was shot in Azerbaijan, stands just meters
    away from a shisha café, staffed by ethnic Armenians from the Middle
    East and often frequented by customers from Azerbaijan.

    Home to sizable ethnic Azeri and Armenian populations, Georgia is
    well-accustomed to such coexistence. But, nonetheless, that doesn't
    mean that awkward situations cannot occur.

    Recently, for example, an Armenian flag appeared flying outside a
    privately owned, neighborhood bathhouse that adjoins a park featuring
    a bust of Heydar Aliyev, the late Azerbaijani president.

    The flag was still flying until the eve of Azerbaijan's May 10 Flower
    Day celebration, an event to mark the birthday of the late president.
    On the day itself, the flag reportedly disappeared. A day later, it
    reappeared.

    The juxtaposition, needless to say, is unusual. Aliyev, in office from
    1993 until 2003, was Azerbaijan's president when the war with Armenia
    and Karabakhi separatists over the breakaway region of Nagorno
    Karabakh ended with a cease-fire in 1994.

    Precise reasons for the flag's appearance, disappearance, and
    reappearance could not be confirmed. The management of the bathhouse
    that displays the flags was not available for comment. `They just
    chose some international flags from somewhere,' an employee commented,
    with a shrug.

    The Armenian flag appears alongside those of the United States,
    Israel, European Union, and Georgia, at the end closest to the Heydar
    Aliyev Park.

    The Azerbaijani embassy to Tbilisi and the Georgian office of the
    State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic, which maintains the
    Heydar Aliyev Park, did not respond to requests for comment about the
    flag's appearance.

    Reaction to the above photograph, posted on Facebook, was mixed, with
    activists weary of the cult of personality surrounding Aliyev sharing
    the image, while others alleged Photoshop manipulation.

    But sources familiar with the circumstances claim that the Azerbaijani
    ambassador to Tbilisi personally visited the owners of the baths to
    request that the Armenian flag be taken down.

    An Azerbaijani TV crew also apparently visited the Heydar Aliyev Park
    to film the bust and the offending flag, but allegedly was denied
    permission to do so.

    When the flag reappeared, the Azerbaijani ambassador, reportedly
    furious, made another visit to the bathhouse, the sources claimed.

    The bathhouse employee, who did not give his name, denied that the
    facility's Armenian flag had caused any controversy.

    But given increasing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, they
    might yet find that the potential for controversy is far from over.

    -- Elizabeth Owen, EurasiaNet.org's Caucasus/Turkey news editor, added
    reporting to this post.

    http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66986




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X