Memorial for ex-Azerbaijani minister placed in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

A memorial monument for Azerbaijan's former interior minister was erected on Wednesday in the heart of the Turkish metropolis Istanbul.

The monument was placed in front of the Pera Palace Hotel in Beyoglu district, where former minister Behbud Han Cevansir was assassinated by Armenian terrorist Misak Torkakyan on July 18, 1921.

Cevansir was central in the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, also known as Azerbaijan People's Republic, which was founded on May 28, 1918, but toppled after only 23 months.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the memorial, Azerbaijan's Consul General in Istanbul Mesim Hajiyev said the consulate was working to "eternalize the memories" of the founders of the Azerbaijani republic.

He said the monument was based on the "one nation, two states" maxim -- referring to Turkey and Azerbaijan -- of former Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev.

"This monument will be another indication of crimes committed by Armenian terrorists against the Azerbaijani Turks," Hajiyev said.

In an opening speech, Haydar Ali Yildiz, mayor of the Beyoglu municipality, said the monument was a "symbol of brotherhood" between the two countries.

"The pain of the Azerbaijani people is our pain," he added.

Yildiz underlined that it was important that events in Upper Karabakh were not forgotten.

"It is an important quality to remind of the events in Azerbaijan, and particularly Karabakh, and to ensure they are not forgotten," Yildiz said.

Upper Karabakh is the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan illegally occupied by Armenia through military aggression since 1991.

Four UN Security Council resolutions and two from the UN General Assembly as well as decisions by many other international organizations, demand withdrawal of the Armenian forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk group -- co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S. -- was formed to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but has yet to reach any results.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev