Azerbaijani ex-president Heydar Aliyev statue dismantled in Canada

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.