BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 15. The French news portal https://www.lagazetteaz.fr has published an open letter addressed to the French public by the founder of the Natavan Society in the Czech Republic, famous poetess Leyla Begim, regarding the statue of the famous Azerbaijani poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan in Évian-les-Bains town, Trend reports via the State Committee on Work with Diaspora.
The letter pointed out that the vandalism shown against the statue of the Azerbaijani poetess caused confusion among enlightened and creative people living in different countries around the world.
"I was quite disappointed to learn that the poet's monument was being planned for demolition in France, where the Declaration of Human Rights founded on Enlightenment values was approved. Do they intend to destroy Rodin's statue in his homeland?" the letter's author said.
The letter emphasized that the statue, which was co-authored by the People's Artists of Azerbaijan Salhab Mammadov and Ali Ibadullayev, has been standing in a small park called (before renaming by order of the mayor's office) the Azerbaijan Garden in Évian-les-Bains (twinned with Azerbaijan's Ismayilli city in 2015) for six years.
This wonderful sculpture, a white-marbled, vivid embodiment of poetry, represents not only multi-ethnic Azerbaijan with multicultural values but also universal values, as the letter mentioned.
Besides, according to the letter, a lot of temples of all religions and historical monuments, including bas-reliefs and statues of outstanding European figures such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nikola Tesla, Charles de Gaulle, and many more, are preserved in Azerbaijan.
The attempt to remove the statue of Khurshidbanu Natavan, admired by Alexandre Dumas, was evaluated as a declaration of war against representatives of culture around the world, the lettter explained.
"This is equivalent to the cancellation of all principles of enlightenment and the destruction of all diplomatic relations established between the two countries over decades. This is the destruction of the bridge from the past to the future, to the next civilization," added the letter.
Reminding that French philosopher Gilles Deleuze called creative people “healers of civilization," Begim expressed gratitude to the editor-in-chief of “La Gazette du Caucase” Jean-Michel Brun, who defended the statue, and noted that she believes in the victory of sound logic over evil intentions.
Begim is also the coordinator of the Coordination Council of Azerbaijanis of Eastern Europe in the Czech Republic and a member of the Azerbaijani Writers Union.
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