‘Russia will demand that Azerbaijan punish perpetrators’: expert on desecration of war memorials in Nagorno-Karabakh 

 
Head of the Center for European Information, MGIMO Associate Professor Nikolai Topornin commented on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement that Russia will discuss with Azerbaijan the desecration of memorials to participants of the Great Patriotic War in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The expert told Alpha News that through diplomatic or political channels, Russia will find out what is behind this and demand that Azerbaijan punish perpetrators.

“There are relevant agreements that are aimed at preserving monuments and not destroying them. Of course, Russia always consistently takes the position that monuments dedicated to soldiers and heroes of the Great Patriotic War are by no means something that cannot be destroyed; on the contrary, they must be preserved in the best condition. So, Russia definitely cannot support these events; on the contrary, Russia, I think, will now find out through diplomatic or political channels what is behind this and, probably, will demand that the Azerbaijani side punish those responsible.

Unfortunately, we see the dismantling and desecration of monuments in other countries, and it’s bad that Azerbaijan joins this group of countries and finds excuses for which these monuments are dismantled, removed, and so on,” Topornin said.

“Each state must bear responsibility for these events. Russia, of course, can express grievances, but it does not have many opportunities to influence Baku. Moreover, we see that Baku is pursuing a policy of a certain distance and does not come into direct contact with Russia. We see that Baku has long been drifting towards Turkey; it is now Azerbaijan’s main strategic ally. At this stage, Ankara is more important to them than Moscow,” the political scientist noted.

According to the expert, all countries must protect shared history and monuments.

“We are deeply concerned that cases like this are starting to happen. This is completely unacceptable. Azerbaijan is a former Soviet republic. Its citizens took part in the war, and many people died. These are common monuments. All countries must protect these monuments; this is a shared history. How can one separate, saying here is a monument to the Russians, and here is a monument to the Azerbaijanis? This is absolutely impossible,” Topornin concluded.