Azerbaijanis of Europe intend to install a monument to M. Rasulzade

The theft of a copper bas-relief from the wall of a house in Novkhani, in which the founder of the Azerbaijan People's Republic (APR) was born, Mamed Emin Rasulzade, then the restoration by the state of two marble bas-reliefs with illiterate inscription and without indicating merits of Rasulzade, alternately caused dissatisfaction of political immigrants. Azerbaijanis living in Europe are discussing the possibility of erecting a monument to Rasulzade with their money in Azerbaijan, and if the country's leadership does not allow it, they will install a sculpture outside the country.

The chair of the Center for Azerbaijani Culture in Stockholm, a documentary filmmaker, a journalist accredited to the Foreign Ministry and the Parliament of Sweden, Rahim Telman Sadigbeyli, told Turan that he and his friends would be able to fulfill their plans in a short time; they are ready to start the campaign. Political emigrants have experience of such activities. Several years ago, in Germany, Azerbaijanis restored a headstone at the grave of one of the commanders of the Azerbaijani legionnaires of the Second World War Dudandinsky.

"There are enough admirers of M.E. Rasulzade abroad, but will the Azerbaijani leadership allow us to erect a monument to the chairman of the Azerbaijan People"s Republic?", Sadigbeyli asks.An alternative to Azerbaijan may be Finland, where Rasulzade spent part of his life in exile. "Perhaps, my friends and I will start working in this direction," the chair of the Center for Azerbaijani Culture in Sweden added.

The history of three bas-reliefs began at the end of 2018. At first, the thief stole a copper bas-relief from the wall of a house in Novkhani, where one of the founders and leaders of the Azerbaijani People's Republic (1918-1920) Mammad Emin Rasulzade was born. On the copper bas-relief were written the name, surname, patronymic Rasulzade, and his merits. The thief broke into pieces a bas-relief to scrap: he was detained, and the local authorities did not restore the bas-relief, deciding to replace it fromthe new one made from granite chips. The name of the First Republic and the name of its founder were incorrectly written on this bas-relief. After critical publications, the municipality of Novkhany removed the second one and installed the third bas-relief, on which nothing but the name, surname and patronymic is written. The head of the municipality explained to the press that M.E. Rasulzade is well known to everyone without mentioning his regalia, and there is not enough place on the bas-relief.There is a joke about it in a social network: "God forbid from the fourth bas-relief, where they could write that Rasulzade was an enemy of the people."

The name of M.E. Rasulzade was removed from the name of the Baku State University, created in the years of the Academy of Sciences. The monument to Rasulzade has been installed, but in the village of Novkhani. In the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, There is no evidence of state respect for the memory of an outstanding Azerbaijani in the capital of Azerbaijan.

"A country that has built a city in the sea,thatextracts oil from the seabed,where outstanding architectural buildings of Mikail Useynov and Zakhi Hadid were built, and experts control three space satellites, cannot make a competent and objective memorial plaque on the house where the creator of the first democratic republic in the Islamic world was born. How to explain this?" asks a blogger of the Moscow"Caucasian Knot."