Azerbaijani ex-president Heydar Aliyev statue dismantled in CanadaSeptember 26, 2012 - 20:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Administration of Canadian town of Niagara-on-the-Lake dismantled the statues of Azerbaijani ex-president Heydar Aliyev and his daughter-in-law Mehriban Aliyeva, considering them as monuments to dictators, member of Public Chamber of Canadian representation Hasan Saftarov said. The step was taken by the town administration in response to Azerbaijani opposition’s campaign. “With the whole world having declared war against dictatorship, a statue to Heydar Aliyev undermines the image of Canada, as one of the most democratic countries in the world. “Aliyev is no different from Saddam, Mubarak, Ben Ali, Gaddafi and Assad. For this reason, we request to dismantle and return statues of Heydar Aliyev and his daughter-in-law Mehriban Aliyeva to Azerbaijani authorities,” Azeri opposition’s letter to the mayor's office reads. According to the official response by the mayor’s office addressed to Hasan Saftarov, the statues were removed, with the monument to Heydar Aliyev to be restored in case Canadian government and Azerbaijani embassy reached an agreement, Internet gazeta reported. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |