Names of Soviet Bolsheviks remain immortalized in Ganja

Baku/04.04.22/Turan: Some city parks in Ganja are in a terrible condition.  Residents of the city decline from visiting these recreational areas since the parks have been neglected by the state, feral dogs live there, and some of the sculptures symbolize the Soviet-Communist past.

In the Ganja railwaymen's park, the pedestal of the bust of the founder of the first Azerbaijan Republic, Mammad Emin Rasulzade, has cracked; large cracks can be seen from afar. This is the first bust of the founder of the ADR, installed in Azerbaijan since 1991 - the restoration of independence of the country.

However, oddly enough is the fact a wall plaque bas-relief of the hero of the Russian civil war, Vasiliy Chapayev iis in good condition. In Ganja on the wall you can see the memorial to the Bolshevik Aina Sultanova. The wall bas-reliefs of the coats of arms of the Soviet republics were preserved.

And in Heydar Aliyev Park, in the Yeni Ganja residential area, a large mosaic panel depicting Mirza Shafi Vazakh surrounded by guests shows Armenian classic poet Khachatur Abovyan.

The neglected state of the park where the cracked bust of Rasulzadeh stands, is especially embarrassing for the administration of the executive power of Ganja, the city where the ADR was proclaimed, Ganja resident and civil activist Orkhan Ismailov told Turan.

The railwaymen park, called Rasulzade Park among Ganja residents, was closed to the public in 2014, and no repair work has been carried out there since then. In 2010-2015, a bag was put on the Rasulzadeh bust, ostensibly for the duration of repairs. The city's public understood this bag as a display of disrespect for the great figure. As a result of numerous appeals, on December 4, 2015, the shameful bag was removed, and it turned out that no repairs had been made. The executive power told the press that since the park was on the balance sheet of Azerbaijan railways JSC, all questions should be addressed there.

In 2014, 5 million manats were allocated from the reserve fund of the head of the state for repair and improvement works in Ganja. In 2018, 10 million manat was allocated to Ganja "to continue construction and improvement works." Separately, millions of manats were allocated for road construction, restoration of the Imamzadeh complex and lighting of public places in Ganja. But the country couldn't find a single manat to restore "Rasulzadeh park"?

Orhan Ismayilov sent letters demanding to clarify the local authorities' park policy to the Ganja information department and Azerbaijani railways.  In his letters he asked on what basis the names of Communist figures involved in the suppression of freedom of Azerbaijani and other nations were immortalized in Ganja. The local government replied as writing that the citizen's claims had been sent to an "authorized organization" for review. -0-