Ascent to Peak Named after Azerbaijan People�s Republic, Dedicated to 100th Anniversary of Independent Azerbaijan Does Not Take Place

Baku / 25.05.18 / Turan: On May 28, 1991, a group of climbers of the Mountaineers Club of the Trade Unions of Azerbaijan made an ascent to the Shahdag mountain range, assigning the name Azerbaijan People's Republic (APR) to one of the nameless peaks (4,230 meters above sea level) of the range.

This happened during the existence of the USSR and the initiators of this event were forced to explain the reasons for their venture to the KGB for a long time.

Nevertheless, the organizers of this initiative managed to ensure that the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a corresponding resolution on December 16 of the same year (No. 416), approving the name of the summit and instructing the relevant bodies to put this name in their documentation (Academy of Sciences, Department of Geodesy and Cartography, State Committee for Sports). A commemorative badge dedicated to this significant event was produced.

"Unfortunately, in recent years we have not had the opportunity to climb not only this range, but also in the whole region of Shah Yaylag where all the main peaks of our country are concentrated. The reason is the negative attitude towards us from the former leadership of the Ministry of Ecology," the head of the club Saridan Mursagulov told Turan.

Mountain climbers really wanted to repeat this climb these days, when the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of ANR, but unfortunately, they could not get the permission of the relevant state bodies again.

Turan has got to know that this is due to the tragedy of December 2017, when three mountaineers died on the neighboring Mount Tufan and an unofficial ban on mountain climbing was introduced. -02B-