“Congratulations on the Slavery Day!” Monument to Heydar Aliyev was Desecrated
On May 10, on the threshold of Heydar Aliyev’s birthday, monument to Heydar Aliyev in a park carrying his name located before the Central Bank of Azerbaijan in Baku, was desecrated, Azerbaijani opposition online Meydan TV reports.
A graffiti in Azerbaijani reading “Congratulations on the Slavery Day!”(Qul bayramınız mübarək!) appeared on the memorial.
According to the TV’s website, an unknown author punned on the phrase “Congratulations on flower festival”by changing twoletters in the first word and giving the word and the phrase a different meaning quite popular among the Azerbaijani dissidents and opposition.
On the other side of the pedestal it was written, Fuck the system !
The website notes that while the country lives in poverty, tens of millions of dollars are spent on flowersto celebrate the birthday of Heydar Aliyev, “the nationwide leader” and “the savior of the nation.”This “feast in time of plague”—observed every year in Baku—has caused an ambiguous attitude in the Azerbaijani society for several years.
“President IlhamAliyev—a tough authoritarian leader known for his falsifications of elections, pressure over civil freedom, persecution of journalists, oppositionists, civil activists, actual repression of the opposition and the civil society in the country—actively spreads the cult of his father. Recently, under the pressure of the West, Aliyev had to soften his position to some extent and release a part of the political prisoners,” the website writes adding that it would be impossible to even imagine thatsuch graffiti could appear on the monument before.
The flower festivalhas is annually celebrated in Azerbaijan. It is dedicated to Heydar Aliyev’s birthday. Huge sums of money are spent on the festival.
