Create a memorial to the victims of Stalinist repression

Baku / 02.11.18 / Turan: One of the initiators of a public campaign to research the alleged remains of the poet Mikail Mushfig, the chief editor of the portal haqqin.az, Eynulla Fatullayev, in an interview with the "Cətin sual" ("Difficult Question") program of the Turan agency, shared his investigations of a mass grave near village of Puta. He noted that, at the suggestion of the KGB of the USSR, at one time there was a myth that most of the victims of Stalinist repressions of 1937-38 were shot on the island of Nargin in the Caspian Sea.

However, an entrepreneur, a former Russian senator Farhad Ahmedov, during a search for the remains of his father, who was sentenced to death, found a mass grave near the village of Puta in the Garadagh district of Baku.

"In the course of the subsequent investigation, it was possible to establish that all persons sentenced to death from 1923 to 1992 they were buried there," said Fatullayev.

On the island of Nargin, the first victims of the Bolshevik repression were shot until 1923: members of the Musavat party and the first opponents of Soviet power.

After the creation of the death corps of the Bayil Prison, the sentences were executed there. The remains of Mishwig are presumed to have been found in a mass grave near Puta. The remains of Mirjafar Bagirov (first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in 1933-53), as well as the remains of the poet Ahmed Javad (author of the anthem of Azerbaijan), the writer Seyid Huseyn and a number of other prominent representatives of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia were revealed there.

As for the alleged remains of Mushvig, the search team first excavated persons laid out in the 1950s. So were found the remains of Mirjafar Bagirov.

"This was the first time the former ecology minister Huseyngulu Bagirov informed me. Mirjafar Bagirov was a cousin of his father. At the same time, on the initiative of Huseyngulu Bagirov, DNA analysis of the remains was carried out. Interestingly, the famous pince-nee Mirdjafar Bagirov was found along with the remains," Fatullayev continued.

While all the prisoners were in prison uniform, Bagirov was in costume. Preserved pieces from his jacket, and from his pocket were found sections of the newspaper.

The group continued the excavations and went to the remains of those shot in the 30s - the remains of Michael Mushfig and Ahmed Javad and other prominent members of the intelligentsia.

In the same place, according to Fatullaev, the Bolshevik leaders of Azerbaijan are buried: Ayna Sultanova, Gazanfar Musabekov, Ruhulla Akhundov, executed during the repressions. There are no separate graves. The pits were pulled out and the bodies of the executed were dumped there. In the pits found 20-50 corpses. "Unfortunately, some officials wanted to prevent our work and public initiative in this direction," said Fatullayev.

The journalist believes that upon completion of the research it is necessary to erect a memorial to the victims of repression. According to him, on the commission"s meeting, deputy Rafael Huseynov proposed to establish a memorial on the site of the demolished monument to 26 Baku commissars in the Sahil Park.

And on the monument must be carved the names of the victims. "I think that this would be the most correct step," said Fatullayev. He also noted that there is an international day of victims of repression - October 30, which should be honored in Azerbaijan, and first of all, by civil society. -03B--