Baku, Azerbaijan, March 27. We are rebuilding
Aghdam from scratch, and we will rebuild it. Large-scale
construction work is underway here now, President Ilham Aliyev said
during his meeting with residents who have moved into new
apartments in the village of Sarijali, Aghdam, Trend reports.
Speech by President Ilham Aliyev
President Ilham Aliyev: Welcome to sarijali.
Residents: You are also welcome, Mr.
President.
President Ilham Aliyev: I sincerely
congratulate you.
Residents: Thank you very much.
President Ilham Aliyev: First of all, I
congratulate you on the upcoming Ramadan holiday and the
restoration of the Sarijali village. In other words, it is a double
holiday today. Opening the village and making it available to
former displaced persons on the eve of this holiday is a
significant event.
We recently celebrated the Novruz holiday. On the eve of Novruz,
I met with the residents of Hasanriz village of Aghdara district
and presented them with keys to their new homes. Meeting with the
residents of the first restored village of Aghdam district today
is, of course, a great happiness. After a long break, you have
returned to your native land. Excellent conditions have been
created for you here.
During numerous meetings with former displaced persons during
the years of occupation, when I was presenting them with temporary
housing, I always said that even better conditions would be created
for them once the lands were liberated and that we would return
them to our native land. Today, we are witnessing confirmation of
those words again. This is the 13th settlement to which former IDPs
have returned. Such conditions will be created for all IDPs in the
future. The first settlement in Aghdam district is now available to
former IDPs after the occupation, but the natives of Aghdam will
also return to other villages this year. This year, people are
expected to return to the villages of Kangarli and Khidirli, as
construction work is underway in other villages as well. Of course,
the city of Aghdam is being rebuilt from scratch and will turn into
one of the most beautiful cities of our country.
The city of Aghdam and all villages of the district were razed
to the ground by the invidious enemy. Not a single building
survived. This shows the nature of the enemy yet again. It shows
their completely unfounded hostility towards us. It is no
coincidence that some foreign experts and journalists have been
unable to hold back their astonishment and even disgust when
visiting Aghdam. Because for many years during the occupation,
foreign citizens could not come to Aghdam district, to the city of
Aghdam, to the parts of the city that remained standing. After the
occupation was ended, both Azerbaijani citizens and foreign
visitors started coming here and saw what kind of an enemy we were
faced with. That is, during the occupation, the city was completely
demolished and razed to the ground. Aghdam has been described as a
Hiroshima of the Caucasus, but the difference is that Hiroshima was
devastated as a result of an atomic bomb, while Aghdam was taken
apart by Armenian thieves and looters for 30 years. They took away
its stones and sold them in various places. In other words, this is
unprecedented barbarity. I have said this many times – Armenian
fascism is the highest peak of fascism. We are rebuilding Aghdam
from scratch, and we will rebuild it. Large-scale construction work
is underway here now. In the post-occupation period, many important
infrastructure facilities have been put into operation – first of
all, roads. The Aghdam-Barda road has been rebuilt. There was never
such a beautiful road here even during the Soviet era. The
Aghdam-Khankendi road is undergoing reconstruction. It will also be
a four-lane road, just like the Barda-Aghdam road. A railway is
under construction. It will probably be put into operation this
year. In other words, it will be possible to comfortably reach
Aghdam by railway. A station is under construction as well. The
Aghdam Mosque has been restored. The contemptible enemy kept
animals in it to insult all Muslims, to insult Muslims of the
world. The first building to be restored here was the Aghdam
Mosque. A Mugham center is under construction. The Imarat complex
has been restored. Natavan’s grave has been restored, an exact copy
of the memorial destroyed by the enemy has been rebuilt. The
Khachinchay water reservoir has been rebuilt – the enemy had
drained it too. A school is under construction, a hospital is under
construction, and a large industrial complex is already
operational. Several enterprises are already operational there, and
it will be the largest industrial complex in the Karabakh and East
Zangezur regions. Of course, residential houses, several
residential complexes are under construction as well, and they will
be put into operation this year.
In addition, taking into account the tourism potential of the
region, two hotels have already started operating and will serve
Aghdam, Fuzuli and surrounding regions. So this is how we are
building the city. I remember meeting with the people of Aghdam in
Aghdam for the first time after the occupation and laying the
foundation of the new city. I said back then that we would build
such a city that the whole world would envy us.
We have implemented all these are projects on our own. The state
of Azerbaijan is capable of doing these things today. I have only
listed the work underway in Aghdam district. But if we consider the
work underway in all of the liberated territories, we can say that
no other country has ever done so much restoration work in such a
short period of time.
The Second Karabakh War will, of course, go down in history as
part of our glorious history, as a glorious page of our history. As
you know, during the war, active military operations were not
conducted in the Aghdam direction because the enemy had built
strong fortifications and mined everything here. Therefore, we
began to move forward in the Aghdam direction only after Hadrut,
Jabrayil, Fuzuli and Shusha had been liberated and the enemy’s
forces were actually surrounded. Azerbaijan showed humanity again
and gave the enemy a chance to vacate these lands of his own free
will. Otherwise, the 10,000, perhaps even 15,000 contingent of the
Armenian army that was surrounded in this region would have been
completely destroyed. In other words, the state of Azerbaijan once
again showed humanity towards those who did not deserve it. After
all, no humanity was shown to us. An act of genocide was committed
against us. Our people were subjected to great suffering. Our
cities were devastated, our villages and towns were ravaged. Our
babies and women were killed by the barbaric enemy. But I said
during the war that we would take revenge on the battlefield, and
we did exactly that.
As a result of the Second Karabakh War, we regained the city of
Aghdam and the villages that were under occupation at the time
without firing a single shot. Along with Aghdam, Lachin and
Kalbajar districts were also returned to us. We would have
liberated these lands anyway, but if the war had continued, there
would have been many casualties. Therefore, we stopped the war in
time, but did not back down a single step from our policy. Three
years later, we took full control and restored our sovereignty and
territorial integrity, and separatism has been completely
eradicated today. People will live here comfortably now, without
fear of anyone and with dignity. I am sure that they will live here
happily. Because both our lands have been regained and the national
dignity of our people has been fully restored. For 30 years,
Armenia had been trying in every possible way not to return a
single inch of our land to us. The foreign forces behind it were
also in solidarity and in alliance with them. But they did not take
into account one thing, and it is the strength, determination and
courage of the state of Azerbaijan and the heroism of our Army. May
Allah have mercy on all our martyrs, may Allah always keep the
heads of our Army and the personnel of our Armed Forces high. As a
result of their heroism and selflessness, we are standing here
today and meeting on the eve of this beautiful holiday.
Restoration work will be continued. Only the first phase of the
construction of Sarijali village has been completed. There are
currently more than 200 houses here, but after the completion of
the second phase, the number of houses will reach approximately
400. There are all the conditions for living here comfortably.
There are beautiful and neat houses, there is electricity, water,
gas, heating, there is a beautiful school, a kindergarten, a
medical center, a sports ground, there are public service areas,
there is even a market complex. The area adjoining to the houses is
also quite large – 1,200 square meters. At the same time, after the
surrounding areas are watered, it will be possible to carry out
sowing and harvesting work there as well. The Sarsang reservoir and
the Sugovushan reservoir can create these opportunities for us now.
To do that, the canals that were built here in the past must be
restored. Work in this direction is also underway. As you may know,
both the Sarsang and Sugovushan reservoirs were built at the
initiative of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in order to provide
Aghdam and several surrounding districts with irrigation water.
During the occupation, the enemy cut off our water. We have now
regained ownership of our water resources. As I mentioned, the
Khachinchay reservoir has already been restored, and the entire
territory of Aghdam and neighboring districts will be irrigated
through a canal originating from Sugovushan. Water will now be
available to approximately 100,000 hectares of previously
unirrigated land.
Therefore, those who will live in Aghdam district should be
prepared for this. We are taking the necessary steps to create jobs
here. At the same time, entrepreneurs should focus on developing
agriculture.
I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart again and wish
you good health. Live happily here.