I was surprised to find that Fresno radio host John Gerardi of Power Talk 96.7 FM had retweeted an image critical of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev walking among the hanging helmets of dead Armenian soldiers. Having not seen this image before, I began to investigate its origin, and appreciated Gerardi’s post sharing this evil news. A few seconds later, the retweets started rolling in. Not only did I realize the picture was real, but, the helmets of the dead soldiers were a part of a much larger park dedicated to the defeat and death of Armenians.
The park also includes wax figures of what appear to be Armenian soldiers in defeat mode, some portrayed as dead and others missing limbs. I am not sure how this park passes the Geneva Convention, but when it comes to Turkey and Azerbaijan, the world has a way of ignoring their disturbing actions.
As brutal of a dictator as I have read Aliyev to be, I didn’t realize that he would be flaunting at the expense of families of murdered 18-and-19-year-old soldiers. I’m sad for the people of Azerbaijan. This Armenia-phobia is and has been carried out for decades by their government with lies about their own history and the history of the region. I’m surprised that more people don’t question that Aliyev has named his wife as vice president and that their family has multimillion-dollar properties around the world. I guess the country’s oil money is that good to silence the majority.
As heartbreaking as these images and this “Trophy Park” is, unfortunately, the same thing happened during the Armenian Genocide. The Ottoman Turkish soldiers, who are distant relatives to the Azerbaijanis, were known for their brutal treatment toward Armenians as well as other religious minorities. Burning families in churches, terrorizing woman and children — nothing was off-limits. Sadly, Aliyev walking among those helmets of dead Armenian soldiers reminded me of when Armenians were rounded up and beheaded during the genocide; their heads too were left on stakes for those in the Ottoman Empire to see and admire.
Over 100 years have passed and the hatred towards Armenians by the governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan continues to be astonishing. Azeri kids will visit the park and the propaganda and hatred towards Armenians will continue. What they won’t realize is that for decades, Azerbaijani attempts to attack Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) were unsuccessful and left the Azerbaijani Army humiliated. It wasn’t until Turkey, for their own genocidal intent, began supplying them equipment and aircraft that their luck changed.
The month of April is a tough one for Armenian Americans. I’ve written about this countless times because the pain and the wound is still fresh. During the Armenian Genocide, the world was on notice. Newspapers all over were publishing detailed stories of the plight of the Armenians, and only a very few tried to help.
More than 100 years later, social media was screaming to help the Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), and no other country came to help. No wonder Aliyev has the guts to make a mockery of dead teenagers; his idols in the Turkish government still haven’t answered to their crimes and it’s been 106 years.
Sevag Tateosian of Fresno is a volunteer with the Armenian National Committee of America fighting for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in honor of his great-grandparents and grandparents, who were forced to flee their historic homeland.
Sevag Tateosian FRESNO BEE FILE