Azerbaijan faced war and conflict by a neighboring country, and 20 percent of its territories were occupied. This led to one of the largest humanitarian crises in Europe after World War II, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said at the event titled “Housing at the Center of Global Coalitions” held within the framework of WUF13, APA reports.
“In a short period of time, Azerbaijan, which is a relatively small country, faced 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons. All of them had been deprived of their homes and normal living conditions. During that period, Azerbaijan also faced serious economic problems and difficulties, which created major challenges for both the people and the government. We were forced to create shelters, tent houses and even tent camps for refugees, although there were no proper conditions. Even railway wagons were used to accommodate more than 1 million refugees. The government’s main goal was to provide shelter, accessible food and living conditions for the refugee and internally displaced community. Since that time, certain state privileges have also been provided to internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan. However, the main goal of the Azerbaijani government was to ensure their safe and dignified return to their homes. Despite the difficult conditions of that period, the Azerbaijani government built 300,000 houses and apartments for refugees and internally displaced persons so that people could live in normal conditions. Because I think there is such an expression in every language: ‘My home is my castle.’ Regardless of whether it is big or small, a person’s home is their castle. With this philosophy, we provided living conditions for the internally displaced community. However, their main desire was still to return. Meanwhile, the problems related to the accommodation of internally displaced persons became even more difficult. Because 300,000 ethnic Azerbaijani refugees expelled from Armenia had also come to Azerbaijan,” Hikmat Hajiyev emphasized.
The Presidential Assistant noted that now the conflict is over and Azerbaijan is facing new realities: “As of 2024, the war and conflict have already ended. The South Caucasus should no longer be a place of war and confrontation. Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty. A peace agreement initiative has also been put forward with Armenia, and the Washington summit held last year created a favorable geopolitical environment for lasting peace and security in the region. However, after the territories were liberated, we saw a completely different picture. It was an unimaginable scene. As our President also noted yesterday, for example, the city of Aghdam, where 100,000 people once lived, was completely destroyed and is called the ‘Hiroshima of the Caucasus.’ Hiroshima was destroyed by a nuclear weapon, while Aghdam was deliberately dismantled stone by stone and destroyed. In total, 9 cities and more than 300 settlements of Azerbaijan were almost completely destroyed. Azerbaijan is currently carrying out the return process of more than 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons. This is a huge mission facing the state. We are rebuilding those territories from scratch. I would even say that we started from ‘minus five,’ because these territories were contaminated with mines. More than 1.5 million mines and unexploded ordnance made those territories dangerous. We are carrying out a large-scale demining campaign for security. Because in the concept of housing, security and safety are the main conditions.”
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