French media publishes open letter due to monument to Azerbaijani poetess

French media has published open letter due to the monument to Azerbaijani poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan.

The French news website www.lagazetteaz.fr published an open letter by chairperson of the Azerbaijani cultural society “Natavan” operating in Prague, famous poetess Leyla Begim, addressed to the French public in connection with the situation with the monument to the outstanding Azerbaijani poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan in France’s Evian-les-Bains city, the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with the Diaspora told Report.

According to the appeal, vandalism against the monument to the Azerbaijani poetess caused bewilderment among enlightened and creative people living in different countries.

“I was extremely disappointed by the news about preparation for the demolition of the monument to the poetess in France, the country where the Declaration of Human Rights, based on the principles of the Enlightenment, was adopted. Do they want to destroy a monument in Rodin’s homeland?” the letter says.

The monument, created by Azerbaijani sculptors Salhab Mammadov and Ali Ibadullayev, was installed in the “Azerbaijan Park” in Evian-les-Bains six years ago. All religious temples and historical monuments have been preserved in Azerbaijan, statues and bas-reliefs of such outstanding Europeans as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nikola Tesla, Charles de Gaulle and others have been installed.

The attempt to remove the monument to Khurshidban Natavan, which was glorified by Alexandre Dumas, was regarded as a declaration of war against the representatives of culture worldwide.

This is like the abolition of all principles of enlightenment, the destruction of all diplomatic relations established between the two countries over the decades. This is the destruction of the bridge leading from the past to the future.

Reminding that the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze called creative people “healers of civilisation” and thanking editor-in-chief of La Gazette du Caucase newspaper Jean Michel Brun for protecting the monument, Leyla Begim said that she believes in the victory of common sense.

Leyla Begim is the coordinator of the Coordination Council of Azerbaijanis of Eastern Europe in the Czech Republic and a member of the Azerbaijan Writers’ Union.