Exposition of Baku Trophy Park provokes indignation in Armenia and Karabakh

Amid the Armenia’s attempts to return prisoners of war (POWs), the decision to display helmets of killed Armenian soldiers and dummies of military personnel in the War Trophy Park has become a manifestation of the Azerbaijani authorities’ cynicism, note Armenian MPs and the Ombudsmen of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 12, the Khatai District of Baku hosted a ceremony to open the War Trophy Park. The park contains 300 exhibits, including about 150 pieces of heavy military equipment, small arms, military vehicles, and fragments of an Iskander-M missile found in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Office of the Armenian Ombudsman condemned the creation of the park, which displays dummies of Armenian military personnel and Armenian military equipment. Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan pointed out that the dummies of the Armenian military personnel are presented “in a humiliating manner in order to ensure the widest possible publicity and incite hatred and enmity” towards residents of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the Armenian Ombudsman, the Baku War Trophy Park includes scenes with Armenian prisoners of war, which “deserves particular condemnation, taking into account the fact that POWs, including military personnel and civilians, are still being kept in custody in Azerbaijan.”

Gegam Stepanyan, Ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh, also condemned the creation of the War Trophy Park in Baku. The opening of such trophy park in Baku is “another manifestation of the painful Armenophobia of the Azerbaijan’s authorities,” which “publicly insults and humiliates the dignity of the whole nation, deliberately inflicts suffering on relatives of the deceased soldiers, soldiers missed in action, and prisoners of war,” declared Gegam Stepanyan in his statement as translated from the Armenian language by the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 14, 2021 at 05:54 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.