Italian Firms Deny Involvement In Conception of Azerbaijan’s “Military Trophy Park”
By Linda Berberian
Two privately-held Italian companies named in Armenian media for helping build Azerbaijan’s “Military Trophy Park” inaugurated last week in Baku, have released corroborated statements adamantly denying any involvement with the project.
Despite claims of having no connection to the museum of “military trophies” global events industry company G Group International and the architect studio 120 grammi did admit traveling to Azerbaijan in February by invitation and visiting territories of Artsakh now under Azerbaijan control. The parties had discussed a possible collaboration opportunity for enhancing and reconstructing “historical assets present in the territories involved in the conflict”, both statements said.
G Group International, with offices around the world including in Brooklyn, NY, declared the matter as a mere misunderstanding originated from news in the Azerbaijani press that the company also visited Azerbaijan the same time as 120 grammi.
“The ‘War Memorial’ did not involve us in the slightest, neither in the conception, nor in the design, nor in any execution activity, either directly or indirectly. To date, we have never received any commitment from the Azerbaijan government or from the structures connected to it,” said a company spokesperson for G Group International on Saturday.
On the same day, 120 grammi: laboratorio di architettura studio based in Venice issued a statement claiming the works of lead architects Carlo and Nicola Pavan have been mistakenly tied to Azerbaijan’s military “museum” due to visiting the region earlier in the year.
“We want to clarify that we have in no way taken part in the conception, design, or realization of this project,” the company said in its statement, which did not specify whether or not the architects were ultimately hired by Azerbaijan to work on other projects.
On Sunday, the Armenian Consulate and Embassy in Venice posted on its Facebook page that it had become aware of the news circulating when the firm sent its office an official denial of involvement.
The “Military Trophy Park” has received heavy international criticism and sparked outrage in the Armenian community for its many controversial installations, including an area that displays hundreds of helmets belonging to fallen Armenian soldiers and exhibits of distorted wax mannequins depicting dead or dying Armenian soldiers from the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war, which ended with a ceasefire trilateral statement on November 10.
Earlier this week, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, posted on his twitter page that he was “grateful” to Italy for the support in the resolution of the conflict and to the Italian companies involved in the creation of the “Victory Museum and War Memorial”. Less than a week after Aliyev’s boastful statement, the Armenian news media outlet PanArmenian.net, published a story naming two Italian companies as participants. The news quickly spread over social media networks, causing a ripple effect into Armenian and Italian international communities.
Alicia Davis, an Italian-American who has publicly stood in solidarity with the Armenian community, received backlash from stunned Armenians immediately after news broke out on social media that Italian companies were allegedly affiliated with the construction of the war-park museum. She pointed out that in 2020, seven Italian cities recognized the Republic of Artsakh and that the negative commentary was disheartening.
“The new open-air museum in Baku is distasteful, appalling and speaks volumes on the nation’s morale. Every Italian I have spoken to condemns business cooperation under the Aliyev regime. My hope is that the Armenian community worldwide can make a distinction between private companies and Italy as a nation-state along with its citizens,” Davis said while assuring she is a dedicated ally who will continue to amplify the voices of Armenians speaking out against injustices.
“I cannot reiterate enough how much Italians do not condone any possible business partnership shared by these two independent firms and Azerbaijan. We cannot allow Aliyev to sever ties between the Armenian and Italian diasporas,” she strongly added.
Kyle Cholakian, whose mother is of Italian descent, said the frustration felt by an already devastated Armenian community has been very understandable. He believes the matter was instigated by Turkey and Azerbaijan as part of their ultimate goal to create division amongst Italians and Armenians and further isolate Armenia.
“The last few days have been very disappointing to see this wedge somewhat artificially driven by the news. If it’s true, we are talking about one or two private companies, not even the government and definitely not the majority of the people. I think what was very damaging is that Aliyev personally thanked Italian companies for their assistance. We have to also be honest with ourselves that [Azerbaijan] does provide gas and oil to [Italy], which is a geopolitical concern,” Cholakian explained.
On February 3, a meeting reportedly took place between Aliyev and Fabrizio Di Amato, Chairman of the Italian Maire Tecnimont Group to discuss restoring “liberated territories” of Artsakh. Aliyev stated the two companies have a good standing work history and that Tecnimont was just one of the many Italian companies invited to work on the projects.
Azernews also reported that CEO of Italian Ansaldo Energia Marion Giuseppe had signed a cooperation agreement for construction of energy infrastructure in areas of Artsakh now under Azerbaijan control.
Meanwhile, tensions have worsened between Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan and Italian prime minister Mario Draghi who four days ago said he has no plans in issuing a correction or an apology after calling Erdogan a ‘dictator’ . The comments made by Draghi were in reference to an incident involving Erdogan failing to provide a chair for European’s commission first female president Ursula von der Leyen during an April 3 meeting, which also included European’s council president Charles Michel.
