Georgian Armenians Demand Dismantling of Azerbaijan's National Hero Monument in Marneuli

The organization "Mountainous Land Union" operating in Georgia has issued a statement demanding the dismantling of a monument dedicated to Azerbaijan's National Hero located in Georgia's Marneuli region.

The statement specifically mentions:

“Recently, there has been significant uproar among members of the Azerbaijani community in Georgia and Azerbaijani parliamentarians about the reopening of a bust of Mikhail Avagyan in the village of Bughashen in Samtskhe-Javakheti, who was born in that village, and villagers recently renovated the bust that was installed decades ago.”

“If a monument commemorating the memory of a local born individual can cause such a commotion, then we demand the dismantling of the monument dedicated to Azerbaijan's national hero Jalil Safarov located in the village of Lezhbad in the Marneuli district, who was an active participant in the Nagorno-Karabakh war and has killed numerous Armenians (including civilians), for which he was awarded the title of Azerbaijan's national hero.”

“We only wish to express our bewilderment about the contradictory actions whereby the Azerbaijani community in Georgia and Azerbaijani parliamentarians call for the dismantling of the bust based on the argument that this individual participated in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, while simultaneously continuing to install monuments to Azerbaijani participants of the Nagorno-Karabakh war in the Azerbaijani-populated regions of Georgia.”

“We also strongly condemn another piece of misinformation spreading from Azerbaijani sources, claiming that Mikhail Avagyan participated in the Abkhaz war. Mikhail Avagyan worked in Abkhazia until 1990 as a police officer, so he could not have participated in the war that began in 1992. From 1990 onward, he lived and operated in Armenia,” the statement concludes.