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Appeal made to Belgium’s Waterloo City mayor regarding act of vandalism against the monument to prominent Azerbaijani poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan

11 March 2020 13:04 (UTC +04:00)

The perpetration of act of vandalism against monument of the Azerbaijani poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan in Belgium’s Waterloo City has aroused anger of our compatriots living in Europe, the State Committee on Work with Diaspora of Azerbaijan told APA.

The Coordination Council of the Netherlands-Belgium Azerbaijanis and the Congress of the Benelux Azerbaijanis have appealed with a letter about this disagreeable incident to the mayor of Waterloo City Florian Roter.

The letter of the Coordination Council of the Netherlands-Belgium Azerbaijanis says this incident taking place a few days after the 8th of March – the International Women’s Day is evaluated as the act of violence and vandalism against the Azerbaijani woman: “This is unacceptable, and we ask you to take urgent measures for identification and punishment of the perpetrators”.

In the letter of the chairman of the Congress of the Benelux Azerbaijanis Elsever Mammadov, this incident has been called a terrible news: “It is regrettable that we don’t have any idea about a person(s) who could perpetrate this act, and we would like to know why he (she) committed this act. We ask you and your investigator to identify the person who has committed this crime. We highly appreciate this monument erected in tribute to one of our very famous poets, and this act has hurt us very heavily. We hope that you understand what meaning this monument represents and how valuable is it for us in Waterloo”.

In the end of the letter, a hope has been expressed that the mayor will respond to this issue in the shortest time.

Note that the erection of the monument of the prominent Azerbaijani poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan in the central park of Waterloo City of the Kingdom of Belgium has been implemented with support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The inauguration of the monument took place on February 18, 2016. “The living enlightener and poetess woman of the Orient Khurshidbanu Natavan, the Garabagh princess, Azerbaijan” inscription has been engraved on the monument’s pedestal. The erection in Belgium of this monument reflecting a note about Garabagh is a contribution to the activities implemented in the area of keeping alive and worldwide promotion of the Azerbaijani truths.

The monument has been included in the list of the protected historic monuments of Waterloo City.