Life is returning to Garabagh as a result of Azerbaijan's restoration of its territorial integrity and ongoing reconstruction efforts, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters today.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov made these remarks during a visit to the "Mother's Cry" monument on the 34th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.
Jeyhun Bayramov noted that over the past five years, the people of Azerbaijan, while commemorating the victims of the Khojaly genocide, also celebrate the liberation of their ancestral lands from occupation.
"Azerbaijan has fully restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty. With the implementation of restoration and construction work, life is returning to Garabagh," the minister stated. He further emphasized that the massacres committed in various settlements prior to Khojaly were part of a deliberate policy based on ethnic hatred. "The Khojaly genocide is considered the greatest tragedy for Azerbaijan due to its scale. The victims of that tragedy were entirely innocent civilians—women, children, and the elderly."
The Khojaly genocide, which took place on February 26, 1992, remains one of the darkest chapters in modern history, where 613 civilians were killed during the First Garabagh War. Following the 44-day war in 2020 and subsequent local anti-terrorist measures in 2023, the government of Azerbaijan has launched the "Great Return" program. This large-scale initiative focuses on demining, infrastructure development, and the construction of "smart villages" to facilitate the safe and sustainable repatriation of internally displaced persons to the liberated territories.
