The fight against the population of a village with tear gas. What happened in Soyudlu? 21 June 2023

Azerbaijani society was stirred up by videos circulated on social networks on Tuesday evening showing heavily armed internal troops throwing gas bombs at residents protesting the construction of a new artificial lake to drain waste from a nearby gold mine.

In one video, a police officer unnecessarily chases after an elderly woman and sprays tear gas directly into her eyes. The country’s Interior Ministry promised to conduct an internal fact-check. But in the end, local residents were detained and fined large sums...

The reason for the protest was the creation of an artificial lake for the waste of a nearby gold mine. According to them, these wastes, dumped into the existing lake, cause serious damage to the environment. The new planned lake is built in the area of the village where there are pastures and this will further aggravate the situation. During the clash police used rubber bullets and tear gas...

The head of the rural municipality, Farman Abdullayev, told a BBC correspondent that people’s pastures were taken from their hands to create a second artificial lake in the village...