190 Azerbaijani families to return to their de-occupied village

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

Trend:

More than 190 Azerbaijani families want to return to the Jojug Marjanli village of the Jabrayil District, liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016, said Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov in his interview with AzTV channel.

Hasanov, who also chairs the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, noted that the April battles of the previous year have become a very significant event in Azerbaijan's history.

“During these battles, two heights were taken back, tens of thousands of hectares of territory were liberated, and currently the work on mine clearance is underway there,” he said. “Prior to the April battles, the Leletepe height was under occupation, but one settlement of the Jabrayil district – the Jojug Marjanli village was liberated in 1993, during the Horadiz operation under the leadership of the great leader, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Heydar Aliyev.”

“However, this village at any time could have been shelled from the Leletepe. Thus, no one lived in the village, except for one family, which has been living there for 25 years," Hasanov said. He added that after the liberation of the Leletepe in April of 2016, the village became safe for living again.

The Azerbaijani army has made a significant progress in the direction of the Jabrayil district, he added.

Hasanov said that having learned about the possibility of safe living in the Jojug Marjanli village, the village’s residents (more than 190 families out of 400 that once lived there) have already applied and expressed desire to return to their homeland.

“This was reported to the Azerbaijani president and the head of the state signed a relevant order and allocated four million manats for the construction of 50 homes and a school,” he noted.

The deputy prime minister added that the construction of these homes will begin soon. The president gave an instruction and the first 50 families out of 190 will be settled in this village.

The State Committee of Azerbaijan for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs will receive 4 million manats from the Presidential Reserve Fund for 2017 for construction of 50 houses, a school building and the relevant infrastructure at the first stage, according to the order.

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, in 1992 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.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.