About the capture of Zagulba beach

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

To Mr. Ilham Aliyev

Dear Mr. President,

The recent event involving the seizure of the Zagulba beach, and the inaction of executive authorities prompted me to appeal to you to eliminate the flagrant violation of the Land Code of Azerbaijan and other legislative acts, and the rights of citizens on unlimited access to the sea.

As a result of seizure and fencing off the beach area, tens of thousands of people are deprived of access to the sea, including local residents, as well as residents of other regions of Baku and the country, and foreign visitors.

In general, after Azerbaijan gained independence, the absence of a special regulator of state policy on the use of the Caspian coastal zone has led to large-scale violations of the law, characterized by numerous facts of illegal seizure of the Caspian coastal zone by both individuals and legal entities. Violation and neglect of the law shows that the existence of a legal framework does not guarantee compliance with the norms and rules for the use of the coastal zone defined by the state.

For this purpose, I believe, it is necessary to create a central body regulating in practice the provisions of the law and the regulation of actions in the coastal zone.

In Soviet times, such a body was the Office of Beaches under the executive committee. Today the issue is broader and is not limited to beaches. It would therefore be advisable to create a state structure that determines policy in the sphere of coastal problems and its constituent part, the Beach Management Office.

In Soviet times, there were no private beaches. All of them were public beaches, apart from those with a special regime belonging to state structures, recreation centers of national importance. However, these were a very small part of the coastal zone.

Today, beaches can be divided into the following types:

Public beaches

Private

Departmental

However, regardless of their status, it would be appropriate to create a single state act (law, code, rules) defining a policy for regulating the activities of beaches. At the same time, the strategy should be aimed at ensuring maximum access of citizens to beaches.

We see how individual civic initiatives make attempts to resist violations of legislation in the field of coastal zone use, but without a special targeted policy of the state it will be impossible to solve the problem.

In this regard, I ask you to give an order to consider my proposal to create a regulator for the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea and other bodies of water, as well as to promptly provide citizens with free access to the sea on the beach of Zagulba and other public beaches.

Yours faithfully, Mehman Aliyev, Director of the Turan News Agency

P.S. The letter was submitted to the Administration of the President of the Republic of Armenia on June 13, 2023.
By topic: Aggression and occupation of the coast again