Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Monument honors Jewish national hero of Azerbaijan

Albert Agarunov was once wanted by the Armenians, who allegedly offered 5 million rublуs to catch him.

Albert Agarunov. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Albert Agarunov. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

A monument commemorating the Jewish national hero Albert Agarunov has been erected in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku.

It’s expected to open on the street named after the icon in the near future, reported Trend on Tuesday.

Agarunov was born on April 25, 1969, into a Jewish family in the village of Amirjan, a Baku suburb. He was one of 10 children.

He served in Georgia as a tank commander in the Soviet Army from 1987 to 1989.

Monument of Albert Agarunov, March 2, 2017. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Monument of Albert Agarunov, March 2, 2017. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

On Dec. 8, 1991, Agarunov and his driver, Agababa Huseynov, managed to disable nine Armenian tanks and two armored trucks. During another skirmish, Agarunov managed to disable two tanks by a method called the “Jewish sandwich” by his comrades.

He was wanted by the Armenians, who allegedly offered 5 million rublуs to catch him.

In 1992, he voluntarily served in the Karabakh war; on May 8 of that year, he was killed by a sniper’s bullet.

He won awards from his country; a school in Baku is named after him; and in 2017, a memorial plaque was erected in front of his home.

Mari Leavitt, a Democratic state representative, told JNS that the school “used extremely poor judgment” by inviting Piker and erred by not including mention of Piker’s “dangerous rhetoric” in the initial event announcement.
Forum HaGevura (“The Heroism Forum”) warned in the letter, a copy of which the group provided to JNS, that Hamas was exploiting the fact that Israel stopped taking the initiative in Gaza.
Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov denies claims of a financial deal with the terror group.
The mayor is not “an isolated New York phenomenon,” a Rockland County, N.Y., activist told JNS.