An advisory commission in Mexico City has recommended the removal of a statue of Azerbaijan’s late authoritarian President Heydar Aliyev that has been erected along a main boulevard of the Mexican capital, RFE/RL reported.

Gabriel Guerra, a member of the panel, said Friday, Nov 23, the commission has called for the bronze statue to be removed from the high-profile Chapultepec Park, along Reforma Avenue, and transferred to another less “emblematic” location.

Azerbaijan’s government paid around $5 million for the renovation of the section of the park where the statue was erected and other public works. That corner of the park was named the "Mexico-Azerbaijan Friendship Park."

Baku has warned of damage to Azerbaijan's relations with Mexico if the statue is removed, including potential closure of its embassy and the suspension of Azeri investments in Mexico.

Azerbaijan says Mexico City’s government signed an agreement stipulating the monument should be allowed to remain on the spot for 99 years.

Human rights protesters have said they are offended by the monument to Aliyev, who is regarded by many has having led an authoritarian, rights-abusing regime during his years as ruler of the energy-rich Caspian Sea country.

The decision on the future of the life-sized statue now rests with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who has faced criticism over the monument.

Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Mexico, Ilgar Mukhtarov said he didn’t agree with the commission’s recommendations and planned to discuss the situation with city authorities.

The advisory commission of three writers and analysts, which was appointed by the city government, said authorities had erred by accepting money to allow a foreign government to essentially decide which political figures or historic events should be commemorated in Mexico City’s public spaces.

The panel suggested that a citizen's board be set up to review such proposals in the future to prevent similar controversies.

Critics have ridiculed a plaque on the statue that describes Aliyev as a “brilliant example of infinite devotion to the motherland, loyal to universal ideals of world peace.”

The critics say the inappropriateness of the Aliyev statue is magnified by its location not far from monuments to Mahatma Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Mexican national heroes.

There have been suggestions that Mexico City officials weren’t completely aware of who Aliyev was when the decision to approve the statue was made.