'Baku knows Zatulin well': Azerbaijani MP slams Russian lawmaker

Azerbaijani MP and political analyst Rasim Musabayov responded on his Facebook page to Russian State Duma Deputy Konstantin Zatulin, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, amid the Russian lawmaker’s provocative statements.

According to Report, Musabayov noted: “Mr. Zatulin has been so ‘successful’ in his activities that he has long been persona non grata in most CIS countries, including Armenia.”

“Recently, Zatulin has been mentioned in Russian media in connection with a resounding slap he received from State Duma Vice-Speaker [Pyotr] Tolstoy, who is just as much of a rabid chauvinist as the victim himself. To divert media attention to another topic, Zatulin could think of nothing better than to shed a ‘manly tear’ over the dismantling of a sculpture of Aivazovsky installed in Karabakh.

This Russian marine painter, regardless of his Armenian ethnicity, is known and appreciated in Azerbaijan. But Baku has no intention of indulging the unauthorized ‘artworks’ of separatists and the so-called NKR, who were successfully expelled in 2023. The sob story Zatulin staged in the media will not win him favor with the Armenian authorities.

As for Azerbaijan, we know Zatulin well — as an ardent instigator and patron of separatism in the post-Soviet space. If Zatulin has now transformed into a defender of monuments, let me remind him that in the past, he repeatedly paid illegal visits to Karabakh, while choosing to ignore desecrated Azerbaijani mosques, our historical heritage, and the vandalized monuments to Natavan, Bulbul, and other prominent Azerbaijani cultural figures in their native Shusha.

So, Zatulin, don’t try to cling to Aivazovsky; his memory does not need your protection,” Musabayov wrote.