On 20 June, violence by Azerbaijani security forces against residents of Söyüdlü village, Gadabay district, caused widespread discontent. The confrontation was caused by the villagers' objection to the creation of a new artificial lake in Söyüdlü. According to the protesters, the lake, which will hold the gold mine's wastewater, could damage the economy, agricultural land and people's health. The first such lake was built in 2012, a few hundred metres from Söyüdlü. Now, for the same reason, the construction of a new lake has alarmed citizens.

Videos circulating on social networks show the residents of the village of Söyüdlü in the Gadabay district protesting against the construction of a new pond at another location, because the pond is being filled with acid residues from the chemical cleaning of the gold mine in the village. Police forces were deployed in the area. Clashes broke out between the police and the demonstrators, with the police using tear gas.

On 21 June, another protest took place in the village of Söyüdlü. Residents marched to the police station with placards saying "The Kur River is being poisoned" and other environmental issues. They demanded the release of those arrested on 20 June: "We are protesting so that our children do not grow up sick".

The police blocked the way of the demonstrators. Later, Orkhan Mursalov, the executive head of the Gadabay district, appeared before them. He said that sometimes local people are misinformed: "The lake in question has been there for 11 years. There have been no complaints about it, and it has never been a danger to anyone. According to the head of the executive, he also lives near the lake. Residents said that after the lake was built, the number of people infected with cancer and other diseases in the village increased. Mursalov denied the accusations about the construction of the second lake.
Later, 15 villagers along with the head of the executive authority went to meet the executive authority.

The Ministry of Interior, for its part, said that a group of people had illegally interfered with the construction of an artificial lake in the village of Söyüdlü. "Despite repeated warnings and explanatory talks, they gathered in the mentioned area. They deliberately disobeyed the legal demands of the police, injured several workers with stones and blunt objects and tried to resist the police officers. As a result of the measures taken, the participants of the illegal activities were removed from the area. Regarding the fact that the police officer used tear gas on one of the women in the video footage, a group of officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs was sent to the Gadabay region. An investigation will be carried out. Depending on the results of the inspection, the matter will be legally assessed,' the information said.

An official of the State Environmental Protection Agency recently told local media that the agency's staff had inspected the lake used for the sedimentation of cyanide-contaminated water from the Gadabay gold mine in the village of Söyüdlü. "Visual observation, monitoring and research showed that no cyanide-contaminated wastewater was discharged from the camp to the surrounding areas and the nearby river. No odours or smells have been observed in the atmospheric air," it said.

On 22 June, the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Ali Asadov, decided to set up a commission to 'investigate the situation' in the village of Soyudlu. 

Notably, the mineral resources of the Gadabay, Qadir and Ugur deposits in Azerbaijan were reassessed in 2020. "According to Anglo-Asian Mining Plc, a British company engaged in gold, silver and copper mining in Azerbaijan, the reserves of the Gadabay deposit amount to 284 thousand ounces (8 tonnes 50 kg) of gold and 26 thousand tonnes of copper. The "Qadir" deposit, located one kilometre from the Gadabay deposit, is reported to contain 49 thousand ounces (1 ton 390 kg) of gold and 191 thousand tonnes of copper. "Anglo-Asian Mining is producing under the Production Sharing Agreement signed in Azerbaijan in 1997. Azerbaijan's share in the contract is 51 per cent, the share of Anglo-Asian Mining Plc. is 49 per cent. The first gold production (in the "Gadabay" field) started in 2009.
The village of Söyüdlü in the Gadabay district is located 450 kilometres west of Baku. Its population is about 4 thousand people.