32 Azerbaijani families returned to Kelbajar

Members of 32 Azerbaijani families who left the city during the Karabakh conflict have returned to Kelbajar today.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, Azerbaijanis from Karabakh settlements were forced to leave their homes after the start of the first Karabakh war. The return of the displaced persons began after Azerbaijan took control of the territories of Karabakh. On November 10, 2023, the Azerbaijani authorities announced that by 2026 they plan to resettle 140,000 people to the territories of Karabakh that have come under the control of Baku.

Today, 139 people from 32 families of displaced persons were sent to Kelbajar, who were resettled in different regions of Azerbaijan, mainly in hostels, sanatoriums and administrative buildings, reports APA.

More than 50 thousand people already live in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur. Among them, in addition to former internally displaced persons, are participants in the implementation of projects in this region, as well as employees of government agencies, healthcare, education, culture, tourism, industry and energy institutions, Trend writes today.

Recall that on September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan carried out large-scale military operations and took control of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, after which a mass exodus of the Armenian population began. By October 7, 2023, 100,632 internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh arrived in Armenia, and by September 2024, only 14 Armenians remained in the region. "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report "The Beginning and End of the Unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".

By August 2024, 2,036 families (7,901 people) of internally displaced persons have returned to the territories of Karabakh that came under the control of Baku.

Azerbaijani displaced persons complained about the difficulties of returning to Karabakh. In particular, they noted that there are not enough jobs in Fizuli. People are looking for opportunities to return to their native places, but in the territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan, property issues have not yet been resolved, the displaced persons noted.

Azerbaijani analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" pointed out that simply providing housing to the forced migrants who have returned to their cities is not enough. The authorities must create jobs and build infrastructure, they emphasized.