International Christian Concern (ICC) has issued a statement on inauguration of the Military Trophy Park in the capital of Baku iopned by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and dedicated to celebrating the country’s genocidal military conquest in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).
According to it the date of this inauguration was conducted in parallel to the beginning of Ramadan, a soft nod towards the religious freedom issues underscoring the 44-Day War. Multiple crimes towards Christians and Christian heritage sites were documented throughout the war. These crimes quite often involved the Grey Wolves, a Turkish ultra-nationalist extremist group.
It is noted that state media photos showed several concerning components of this event and the park. President Aliyev is wearing his combat military uniform during the park’s inauguration, further emphasizing the continued posture of war and conquest towards the Armenian community. Other alarming elements include displaying the helmets of Armenians killed during the conflict, as well as creating cartoonist wax mannequins of servicemen stylized in a way that reinforces degrading stereotypes of Armenian Christians. Additionally, many of these mannequins show these servicemen as either dead or dying.
Claire Evans, ...
