BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 25. On February 25,
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, First Lady
Mehriban Aliyeva, and their daughter Arzu Aliyeva visited Khojavend
town to inspect the reconstruction progress, Trend reports.
The head of state, the First Lady, and their daughter met with
residents of Khojavend town and Khojavend village and held a
conversation with them.
President Ilham Aliyev: Welcome.
Congratulations. You arrived a few days earlier than me. I
sincerely congratulate you on your return to our native Garabagh
land. I am confident that you will live here comfortably, happily,
in peace and security. You deserve this.
You endured long years of suffering and hardship. Life as an
internally displaced person is difficult — both morally and
physically. Leaving your native land and going elsewhere, even
within Azerbaijan, and living in hardship is a great trial. You
emerged from this trial with honor. I am sure that the entire
Azerbaijani people, including you, always believed that this day
would come — that we would liberate these lands, restore justice,
and drive the enemy out of our territories.
As you know, although a large part of the formerly occupied
lands was liberated five years ago during the Patriotic War,
Khojavend remained under occupation, and the people of Khojavend
believed that the situation would change someday. I am confident
there was faith in society that not even one inch of our land would
remain under the enemy’s heel — and we achieved that as well. For
more than two years now, we have exercised full control over the
entire sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. We
destroyed the enemy’s last stronghold, expelled the separatists,
brought them before the court, and fully restored justice.
Therefore, that difficult period is now behind us — it is in the
past and will never return. Today, our state is strong, our army is
strong, and our people have shown the whole world their greatness
over these years. In the last 80 years, no other country has
achieved such a complete and absolute victory as Azerbaijan.
Now is the time for construction. The state has already created
conditions for you here. Some houses have been restored and
rebuilt, and this process will continue. Tens of thousands of
Azerbaijani citizens are already living in the liberated
territories, and approximately 30,000 of them are former internally
displaced persons. As you know, over the last four to five years,
we have primarily allocated funds to infrastructure projects
because the essential conditions for living must first be ensured —
electricity, gas, water, roads, bridges, and tunnels. Now, more
funds will be directed toward the construction and restoration of
residential houses. Therefore, the “Great Return” process will
accelerate even further.
Jobs are also being created here — through the state, public
institutions, and, of course, the private sector. The majority of
people living here were previously engaged in agriculture. You know
well that this region has beautiful nature, fertile land, water,
and springs — everything necessary is here. The main thing is that
people now live here comfortably and remain fully confident that
such tragedies will never again befall our people.
To ensure this, we must always remain strong and vigilant, never
forget the past, and look to the future with confidence — just as
we look with confidence and live today. I sincerely congratulate
you once again and wish you good health.
x x x
Commemorative photos were taken.
x x x
The residents expressed their gratitude to President Ilham
Aliyev for the conditions created for them.
Will be updated
