BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.21
By Jani Babayeva - Trend:
Azerbaijan will rapidly restore the liberated Aghdam district, which will greatly benefit the development of the whole country’s economy, historian, employee of Russian St. Petersburg State University, a native of Aghdam Niyazi Niyazov told Trend.
“It’s known that back in Soviet times, Aghdam was one of the key districts of Azerbaijan in economic terms. Its total population exceeded that one of the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region. Owing to the factor alone the resources of Aghdam gave great advantages to the economy of the country,” Niyazov said.
“Today Aghdam is destroyed, but its restoration promises huge advantages for the Azerbaijani economy. The restoration and construction work will be an impetus for the development of large-scale industries, primarily related to the construction and service sectors, and all the factors will undoubtedly not only contribute to the speedy restoration of Aghdam, but will also give great benefits to the development of the economy of the whole of Azerbaijan," he noted.
According to the expert, from the point of view of ensuring the region’s security, the possession of Aghdam means restoration of almost complete control over the Nagorno-Karabakh and the entire Plain Karabakh regions by Azerbaijan.
"Thanks to the railways and highways passing through it, Aghdam being the center of Karabakh, will play a key role in the further development of the region. Strengthening of Aghdam will demonstrate to the entire population of Karabakh, including its highland area, that the economic and political possibilities of Azerbaijan are enormous," he pointed out.
“The initial task is to demine the district’s territory, neutralize all items, dangerous for life, left by the Armenian occupiers,” Niyazov stressed speaking about the stages of the Aghdam district’s restoration. "The next stage is the restoration of communication lines, railway transport, electricity supply, and building an effective infrastructure. It would be advisable to think in advance about eliminating the mistakes in the past urban planning processes associated with Aghdam, for example, to establish effective urban systems of treatment facilities."
As the expert further noted, most of the internally displaced persons from Aghdam and their descendants want to return to their native land.
“First it’s necessary to create conditions for their involvement in construction work. Then the role of the state will be to create necessary infrastructure for the successful life of people - we are talking about such areas as the education system, health care, etc. These areas should be built according to new standards.
"There is a big, difficult and responsible work ahead, but I’m convinced that Azerbaijan, Aghdam residents, as well as residents of all other Azerbaijani territories liberated from the occupation will cope with the tasks," he added.
As a native of Aghdam, Niyazov stated his gratitude to the leadership of Azerbaijan for liberation of the district.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.
Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.