EurasiaNet.org, NY
May 20 2013
Heydar Aliyev and Armenian Flag Make Joint Appearance
Tbilisi’s Old Town has long been an area where ethnic Armenians,
Azeris, Jews, Kurds, and Georgians intermingle.
There’s the Azeri teahouse run by ethnic Armenians on one street, and,
on another, one run by ethnic Azeris, where an ethnic Armenian
waitress serves customers.
A mosque frequented mainly by ethnic Azeri Muslims sits atop a hill
just a few minutes away from an Armenian church where Sayat Nova, the
18th century troubadour who wrote songs and poetry mainly in Azeri, is
buried.
A statue to Sergei Paradjanov, the surrealist ethnic Armenian
filmmaker whose last film was shot in Azerbaijan, stands just meters
away from a shisha café, staffed by ethnic Armenians from the Middle
East and often frequented by customers from Azerbaijan.
Home to sizable ethnic Azeri and Armenian populations, Georgia is
well-accustomed to such coexistence. But, nonetheless, that doesn’t
mean that awkward situations cannot occur.
Recently, for example, an Armenian flag appeared flying outside a
privately owned, neighborhood bathhouse that adjoins a park featuring
a bust of Heydar Aliyev, the late Azerbaijani president.
The flag was still flying until the eve of Azerbaijan’s May 10 Flower
Day celebration, an event to mark the birthday of the late president.
On the day itself, the flag reportedly disappeared. A day later, it
reappeared.
The juxtaposition, needless to say, is unusual. Aliyev, in office from
1993 until 2003, was Azerbaijan’s president when the war with Armenia
and Karabakhi separatists over the breakaway region of Nagorno
Karabakh ended with a cease-fire in 1994.
Precise reasons for the flag’s appearance, disappearance, and
reappearance could not be confirmed. The management of the bathhouse
that displays the flags was not available for comment. `They just
chose some international flags from somewhere,’ an employee commented,
with a shrug.
The Armenian flag appears alongside those of the United States,
Israel, European Union, and Georgia, at the end closest to the Heydar
Aliyev Park.
The Azerbaijani embassy to Tbilisi and the Georgian office of the
State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic, which maintains the
Heydar Aliyev Park, did not respond to requests for comment about the
flag’s appearance.
Reaction to the above photograph, posted on Facebook, was mixed, with
activists weary of the cult of personality surrounding Aliyev sharing
the image, while others alleged Photoshop manipulation.
But sources familiar with the circumstances claim that the Azerbaijani
ambassador to Tbilisi personally visited the owners of the baths to
request that the Armenian flag be taken down.
An Azerbaijani TV crew also apparently visited the Heydar Aliyev Park
to film the bust and the offending flag, but allegedly was denied
permission to do so.
When the flag reappeared, the Azerbaijani ambassador, reportedly
furious, made another visit to the bathhouse, the sources claimed.
The bathhouse employee, who did not give his name, denied that the
facility’s Armenian flag had caused any controversy.
But given increasing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, they
might yet find that the potential for controversy is far from over.
— Elizabeth Owen, EurasiaNet.org’s Caucasus/Turkey news editor, added
reporting to this post.
From: A. Papazian
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66986