Main flag of Azerbaijan tears up again
The gale-force wind, which began on Sunday night and didn’t stop all day long, once again tore up the main flag of Azerbaijan on the Flag Square of the capital, the Azerbaijani news agency "Turan" reports.
According to the article, the wind gusts with the speed of 35-40 meters per second made the huge, football-field-sized flag, weighing 350 kg, to diverge on the stitches, and later on tore it up off the flagpole completely. The incident happened in the morning and was recorded on video by local citizens.
As noted in the article of the Azerbaijani news portal "Haqqin.az", those responsible for having the official state symbol of the Azerbaijani Republic torn up to shreds should be called to account.
"The Azerbaijani flag was not lowered in time, and therefore was torn to shreds by the heavy wind. And this is not the first time. Let’s assume that for the first time it occurred because of not having experience. But this is gradually becoming a tendency. And this is more than a mistake, it is a crime committed in front of the eyes of every citizen of our country," the article reads.
The inauguration of the National Flag Square, where the flag of Azerbaijan was raised, took place in Baku on September 1, 2010. The flagpole of the mentioned Square used to be the highest one in the world during the time period starting from its construction till May of 2011, when another 165-meters high flagpole was set in Dushanbe. On September 3, 2010, only two days after the setting, the flag was replaced, as it was torn by a storm. The incident was repeated in April 2011, the flag of Azerbaijan was ripped off.
Furthermore, at night of February 2, 2011 the flagpole started to swing because of a wind, and the flag was taken down for a while.
Moreover, the residents of the nearby 9-storeyed building were evacuated because of the danger of a falling flagpole, weighing 220 ton. The flag was taken down again on April 9, 2011. According to one of the explanations, the flag was ripped again by the wind, another one suggests that the problem was in the material the flag was made of.