Mother of fallen Azerbaijani major general Polad Hashimov talked to journalists on January 1, revealing her skepticism around her son’s death, who was killed during the clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces in July 2020 along the state border in Tovuz district of Azerbaijan.
Samaya Hashimova, the mother, invited several local reporters to her house on January 1, a day before anniversary of her son’s birth, and made shocking statements. In her interview, Hashimova opened up that she doubts that her son was killed by Armenian forces, but instead fellow Azerbaijani high-ranking officers.
Karim Valiyev [current Chief of the General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces] had my son killed so that he would get the position. Let my President Ilham Aliyev hear this. A general of Azerbaijan died, and no commemoration was held even for a day. The guilt of this is all on Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov.
Samaya Hashimova
Hashimova also revealed that Polad Hashimov was promoted to a higher position in the Ministry of Defense, effective from 15 July 2020 on, a day after he was killed. She declined to disclose the exact title of the position.
“On 11th I talked to him on phone, he happily said he would come home on 15th. And on 14th his coffin came,” Hashimova recalled.
Besides, Hashimova asserted that her son wrote a letter of resignation from the Armed Forces right after the 4-day war of April 2016, in which he fought, and he was forced to stay, but she declined to disclose reasons behind it.
Polad Hashimov was one of the 12 officers Azerbaijan lost in the Tovuz clashes in July 2020, which many believe paved the way for the Second Karabakh War in September that year. Hashimov was also the first Azerbaijani general killed during active fighting against Armenian forces since the start of the conflict in the late 1980’s.
Hashimova’s unexpected interview sparked major discussions on Azerbaijani social media, with many believing that the mother is confused out of anger and thus does not have a point. Yet, some shared her skepticism, too.
Lawyer Samed Rahimli wrote on his Facebook that questioning circumstances of death of a major general in a small-scale fighting is legitimate and condemned those who refuse to do so for following state propaganda.
