The plan for the opening the monument to Nakhichevan in 2020 fail

Baku/15.09.19/Turan: Aznet discusses the intention of Azerbaijan and Russia to erect in St. Petersburg a sculpture to the Adjutant General of the Russian Empire, Azerbaijani Khan Huseyn of Nakhichevani, who took part in the battles of the Russo-Japanese and World War I, and commanded the cavalry units. He got 15 Russian and 9 foreign state awards for his services in battles. He is one of two generals who refused to put his signature under the manifesto of Nikolay the First on abdication. Nakhichevani was arrested in 1918, and by order of the Petrograd Emergency Committee, he was supposedly shot.

It is planned to erect the bronze sculpture to Nakhichevani on the Petrograd side of St. Petersburg, at the intersection of Malaya Posadskaya and Michurinskaya streets. The project provides for the installation of a bronze figure of a military leader 2.5 meters high on a granite pedestal (2.75 meters high), as well as the organization of the entire area - a granite blind area, trees and benches will appear on it, Diasporinfo.com reports citing Russian media. The sculptor of the monument is Mikhail Popov, and the architect is Evgeny Cherepakhin. Azerbaijan is ready to allocate funds for the creation of sculpture. The cost of creating the monument is 15-16 million rubles, the reconstruction of the area is 7-8 million, the Russian media reported.

Azerbaijanis who oppose the erection of the monument say that Nakhichevani fought in the Russian army against the Ottoman Turkey. As a tsarist General, Nakhichevani took part in the assault on Sarykamysh, Bayazet and Erzurum. During these operations, the Russian army committed mass killings of Muslims. Near Sarykamysh, the Turkish army lost about 90 thousand soldiers. The defeat at Sarykamysh in Turkey is called a national tragedy.

One of the critics of the idea of ​​exaltation of the name of Nakhichevani, journalist Gafgaz Omarov, says that the installation of this monument is the same as the return of the sculpture to Shaumyan in Baku. Critics advise the government not to forget that today the military and economic guarantee of Nakhchivan"s security is precisely Turkey, against which Huseyn Nakhichevani once fought together with the Armenian nationalists and Russian Cossacks.

According to other sources, the installation of the monument was delayed due to the fault of the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia Polad Bul-Bul oglu, who interferes with the work for ideological reasons described above.

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia issued a refutation. The statement said that using experience in the Ministry of Culture, Polad Bulbul oglu made several corrections and additions to the sketch of the composition. Along with the selection and approval of the composition, Ambassador Polad Bulbul oglu, together with the Consul General of Azerbaijan in St. Petersburg Sultan Gasimov, met with the then Governor and the leadership of St. Petersburg, as well as with representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora who put forward the idea of ​​creating a monument. Moreover, when the tombstone of Huseyn Khan Nakhichevan"s son was discovered in 2016, just Polad Bulbul oglu put forward the idea of ​​installing this tombstone on the pedestal of the monument.

The statement by the embassy put forward another reason for the suspension of work. There are rumors on social networks that the installation of a monument to the famous Azerbaijani, Adjutant General Huseyn Khan Nakhichevani in the city of St. Petersburg requires additional financial support. The embassy officially announces that the above project does not need any additional financial support. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has allocated all the necessary funds for the full implementation of such a significant idea. To date, the sculptural composition, as well as the architectural project, has been completed and part of the work has been paid for.

To carry out further work on the project, the necessary funds were transferred. Taking into account the need for accountability of spending public funds, as well as not excluding the possibility of their non-targeted use, relevant documents were requested confirming the expenses. Necessary documents were not provided, and therefore further funding was suspended.

It is also reported that in the area allocated by the administration of St. Petersburg for the installation of the monument, a number of serious problems have arisen related to underground engineering communications. The ambassador"s meeting with the newly elected governor of St. Petersburg is being planned to resolve the issues that arise, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia explains.

In 2020, Azerbaijan will be represented as a guest country at the St. Petersburg Cultural Forum, which is a very significant event in the cultural life of our peoples. As part of this event, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, the grand opening the monument to Hussein Khan of Nakhichevan is planned. However, the difficulties raise doubts about the timely execution of the project.--0--