Azadliq Square, Baku

Azadliq Square (Azerbaijani: Azadlıq meydanı), in Baku is the biggest city-centre square in Azerbaijan. It lies next to Baku Boulevard.

Azadliq Square
The Government House on the square.
Native nameAzadlıq meydanı
Former name(s)Lenin Square
TypePublic square
Maintained byMayoralty of Baku
LocationBaku, Azerbaijan
Coordinates40°22′21″N 49°51′12″E
Construction
Construction start1960–70s

History
Tanks on the square during a parade in 2011.

The square, formerly named Lenin Square after Vladimir Lenin, was created in the 1960–70s, after construction of the Government House of Baku was finished in 1952 and monument to Lenin was erected in front of it in 1955.[1] It was also formerly known as Stalin Square. Along with the square, Baku authorities constructed several buildings including "Azerbaijan" and "Absheron" hotels encircling the square, which were later demolished and replaced with Hilton Baku and JW Marriott Absheron Baku Hotel. The Lenin monument sculpted by D. M. Garyaghdi was removed in early 1990s.[2] The square was then also renamed in 1991 to Azadliq Square (Freedom Square) after collapse of Soviet Union.[3] In 2006, the government sponsored project oversaw renovation works at the Government House and its vicinity including Azadliq Square. Works lasted until 2010.[4]

Buildings and structures
  • A parade on the square in 2013.
  • Government House at night.
  • The construction of Government House in the 1930s.
  • Black January

Events

Parades
The Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School (BVOKU) marching on Lenin Square during a parade in Baku in October 1970.
See also: Military parades in Azerbaijan

During the Cold War, Lenin Square was used as a parade ground for the annual International Workers' Day demonstration on May 1, as well as the Victory Day and October Revolution Day military parades on May 9 and November 7 respectively. Azadliq Square is the main venue for the bi-annual Day of the Armed Forces military parade which takes place on June 26.[5] In 2018, the square was used as the main venue for the centennial celebrations of the Battle of Baku, which was attended by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.[6][7] On 10 December 2020, a victory parade took place on Azadliq Square, honouring the Azerbaijani victory during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war,[8] during which Armenian war trophies and Azerbaijani military vehicles,[9] were displayed.

Demonstrations

Starting on 17 November 1988, large-scale demonstrations began in Baku's Lenin Square to protest against the alleged destruction of a forest near Shusha by Armenians.[10] As the demonstrations continued, they became increasingly anti-Armenian, with chants of "death to the Armenians"[11] and demands that those convicted of the murder of Armenians during the Sumgait pogrom be released. The demonstrations also developed into an anti-central government, anti-Soviet protest. On 23 November, a curfew was imposed in Baku and Soviet troops tried unsuccessfully to disperse the crowds. The events later led to the proclamation, in 1992, of National Revival Day of 17 November. Following the Black January crackdown by Soviet troops in Baku on 20 January 1990, Azadliq Square became the gathering and mourning place for approximately 2 million people who gathered to take the dead to a burial site in Martyrs' Lane in upper Baku.

Other

In 1989 one of Azerbaijan's greatest vocalist, Yaqub Zourofchi, held a revolutionary concert as Azerbaijan was gaining their independence from USSR. The square was used for the Baku City Circuit.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Memarliq-Döqüzinci Bölüm (Architecture-7th chapter)". Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  2. "Илюстрация "Руднев Л. В., Мунц В. О. Дом правительства (Баку)" в Большой Советской Энциклопедии". Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  3. Старые наименования улиц и площадей Баку. (in Russian)
  4. "Reconstruction of Government House in Baku cost $40 million". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  5. Holding, APA Information Agency, APA. "Military parade held in Azerbaijan". Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  6. https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/155166/azerbaijan-military-parade-planned-in-baku-september-15
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2018-09-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Baku preparing for grandiose Victory Parade – VIDEO". Azerbaycan24. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  9. Makarenko, Alena (2 December 2020). "Эрдоган приедет на парад победы в Баку: мнение политолога date". 360 TV (in Russian). Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  10. Stuart J. Kaufman,Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War p.66.
  11. Mark Malkasian, Gha-ra-bagh!: The Emergence of the National Democratic Movement in Armenia, p170. Wayne State University Press, 1996.
  12. Азад Рагимов рассказал о примерной трассе бакинского этапа Формулы-1 [Azad Ragimov told about approximate track of Baku Formula 1 race]. www.azerisport.com (in Russian). Retrieved 25 July 2014.
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