Of course, such sight may cause mixed emotions: sympathy for the young lads who have lost their lives, anger at their politicians and military commanders, thus strengthening their status, annoyance that they have no power to stop this massacre, and, perhaps, fear that it may affect me and my loved ones.
But perhaps the main point of the exhibition is that it was a symbol of American support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russian aggression by the West in general. Although President Zelenskyy initiated the exhibition, the US government fully endorsed it.
However, it is somewhat embarrassing that the United States, which positions itself as a guarantor of Western democracy, for some reason completely forgets about all the democratic canons when it comes to Azerbaijan. Equality and justice are in retreat here, and the West’s favourite double standard comes to the fore. Unfortunately, we are very familiar with them in our country – we experienced them during 30 years of Armenian occupation and it appeared that little has changed in the post-war period. In order to prove my point, I would like to recall how the opening of the Military Trophies Park in the capital of Azerbaijan in May 2021 caused a stir in Western society. At that time almost the entire international community rose against our country. And today, the Western media are enthusiastically describing the exhibition in New York, which tells about military operations in Ukraine. Indeed, the same Western media, swooped down on us, seeing it as unethical and mocking to remind the defeated enemy of its losses and disgrace by displaying not only mangled but also hopelessly obsolete military equipment.
Please note that Azerbaijan was showcasing only APCs and tanks, not the bloodstained ammunition of soldiers, while the British Guardian admiringly describes the New York exhibition as a display of “the shoes of murdered Russian occupiers”. Is it possible in the advanced and civilized 21st century, when the enlightened West relentlessly calls for humanism and multiculturalism? On the other hand, Azerbaijan was given an ultimatum saying that the Trophy Park is “bad for the psyche of the Armenian public” and should therefore be closed. The French, Italian, and US media outlets wrote about this event as an allegedly “inhumane” move by the Republic of Azerbaijan. However, only military equipment, abandoned by the occupants fleeing from a foreign land, is presented there.
The New York exhibition showcases the worn boots of the deceased, some of which clearly have blood stains on them. Why this does not bother the West? Is it acceptable? Is it humane? And the West still denies double standards!
And there is one more nuance. After the opening of the Military Trophies Park in Baku, the European Parliament demanded its closure as a symbol of brutality. Although in Europe itself, for example in the Musée de l’Homme on Place du Trocadér, dozens of skulls of the Algerian resistance fighters who fought against colonialism are kept. There are plenty of such parks and museums around the world. For example, there is the “Museum of War Victims” in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which displays military equipment taken as spoils, including an F-5 fighter jet, a UH-1 military helicopter, bombers, tanks, and pieces of phosphorus bombs. But here among the exhibits are wax figures, demonstrating how “humanists” from the West abused the local Vietnamese population, showing scenes of executions.
In other words, it is a common practice that is accepted quite calmly in the West and the USA, and the New York exhibition is more proof of that. Or another example: in Moscow, in the Gorky Park of Culture and Leisure in 1943-1948, trophy German machinery was on display. Noteworthy, in 2019-2020, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Victory over fascism, the Russian Ministry of Defense showed equipment captured in Syria that had nothing to do with fascism.
After all, the Military Trophies Park in Baku not only displays the cowardice and insignificance of the Armenian soldier but also carries the message to the world that the policy of aggression does not go unpunished and that retribution is inevitable. However, for some reason, the display of military trophies by Azerbaijan, which has liberated its territories from occupation, is causing a great uproar in the West.
It is also a sign of the West’s biased policy towards Azerbaijan that Armenia has still not been duly condemned for unprecedented crimes in the Azerbaijani territories. What is more, Azerbaijan has been under serious pressure throughout the 44 days of the war, with the Minsk Group co-chair countries playing the main role in the process. This is also a clear manifestation of double standards. The West was not squeamish about double standards, either. While paying lip service to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, it turned a blind eye to Armenian aggression, occupation of the Karabakh region, and Yerevan’s failure to comply with four UN Security Council resolutions. We were invariably told that the Karabakh conflict needed to be resolved only peacefully, without a single hint of condemnation of Armenia, let alone sanctions against it. In short, they put the victim and the aggressor on the same level. As a result, Azerbaijan had to implement UNSC resolutions and restore its territorial integrity on its own. Remarkably, it was the West, which had been urging Baku and Yerevan to resolve the Karabakh problem peacefully all those years, that declared the need for a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine last April. However, the same West watched in silence as during the 44-day war the Armenian Armed Forces launched missile and artillery strikes on Azerbaijani cities far behind the front lines. Armenia blatantly violated the laws and rules of war and international conventions, but the West, the EU, and other international authorities were slow to condemn the Armenian atrocities and ballistic missile attacks on Azerbaijani civilians. The West did not impose any sanctions against Armenia, and instead of punishing the aggressor, Armenia, the EU, UN, and OSCE Minsk Group called for a ceasefire, i.e. for maintaining the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
Each of these facts is an indicator of the West’s double standards against Azerbaijan, so it is not surprising that they are manifested in all their glory today, as evidenced by the exhibition in New York, admiringly lauded by Western media.
Matanat Nasibova
Caliber.Az
