BAKU (Public Radio of Armenia) — Late in the evening of May 9, the day before the birthday of former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, a statue dedicated to the father of the current president of Azerbaijan was covered with graffiti in a park in Baku, according to Meydan TV.
The new inscription read: “Happy Slave Day!” The unknown author took the Azerbaijani phrase, “Gül bayraminiz mübarek!” and by changing the first letters of the first word completely altered the meaning of the phrase from “Happy Flower Day!” to “Happy Slave Day!”
Flower Day is celebrated every year in Baku and other large regional Azerbaijani cities on the 10th of May to coincide with the birthday of the former president Heydar Aliyev.
Every year in preparation for the holiday, the government spends tens of millions of dollars on flowers from Holland, Italy, France, Turkey, China and other countries. This has elicited criticism and contempt from civil society.
