The 26 Commissars Memorial, which was located in Baku, Azerbaijan, paid tribute to the 26 Baku Commissars

26 Baku Commissars

The 26 Baku Commissars were Bolshevik and Left Socialist Revolutionary members of the Baku Soviet Commune. The commune was established in the city of Baku...

 from the Baku commune. The commune was overthrown in 1918 and the commissars later slain near Krasnovodsk (now Türkmenbaşy

Türkmenbasy, Turkmenistan

Türkmenbaşy , formerly known as Krasnovodsk and, more properly, Kyzyl-Su, is a city in Balkan Province in Turkmenistan, on the Krasnovodsk Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It is located at latitude 40.0231 North; longitude 52.9697 East, at an altitude of 27 meters. The population was 86,800, mostly...

). The monument was designed by Alesker Huseynov, who went on to become a prominent politician in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

.

Description

The centre of this large square was a dramatic monument with a man coming out of the ground holding what was previously an 'eternal flame' (later extinguished). Hovering above him was a large stone circle that was once inscribed with the names of the slain commissars though all the wording has since been removed making the whole monument much more ambiguous.

The square has a quiet garden and is the location of the Turkish embassy and of the Akhundov National Library

Akhundov National Library

The Mirza Fatali Akhundov National Library of Azerbaijan is a central state library of Azerbaijan, located in Baku and founded in 1922. It is named after Mirza Fatali Akhundov, an Azerbaijani dramatist and philosopher. The library overlooks the Khagani Street, Rashid Behbudov Avenue and the Nizami...

, Azerbaijan's main book repository.

Demolition of the 26 Commissars Memorial

On January 2009, the Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

 authorities’ started demolition of the 26 Commissars Memorial, and the works were soon completed. The park itself was fenced in July 2008. The dismantling was opposed by some local left-wingers

Left-wing politics

In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 and by the Azerbaijan Communist Party (1993)

Azerbaijan Communist Party (1993)

The Azerbaijan Communist Party is a political party in Azerbaijan. AKP was set up in 1993 by Ramiz Ahmadov and registered by the Justice Ministry in 1994.-Ideology:...

 in particular. The remains of the commissars were reburied at Hovsan

Hövsan

Hövsan is a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 38,257....

 Cemetery on 26 January 2009, with participation of Muslim, Jewish and Christian clergy, who conducted religious ceremonies. During exhumation only 21 bodies were discovered, out of expected 26. One of those whose remains were missing from the grave was the leader of the Baku Commune Stepan Shahumyan

Stepan Shahumyan

Stepan Gevorgi Shahumyan was a Bolshevist Russian communist politician and revolutionary active throughout the Caucasus. Shahumyan was an ethnic Armenian and his role as a leader of the Russian revolution in the Caucasus earned him the nickname of the "Caucasian Lenin", a reference to the leader...

and four other Armenian commissars Tatevos Amirov, Bagdasar Avakyan, Armenak Boriyan and Aram Kostandyan.