Year passes since liberation of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar from Armenian occupation

Today marks the first anniversary of the liberation of the Kalbajar District from the occupation of the Armenian armed forces.

Report informs that in conformity with the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on November 10, 2020, Kalbajar was to be returned to Azerbaijan on November 15, 2020.

However, Armenia demanded an additional 10 days to evacuate the troops in the area and illegal settlers from the district. Therefore, the Azerbaijani state, once again driven by principles of humanism, extended the deadline until November 25, taking into account the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The aggressor Armenian armed forces occupied the Kalbajar District on April 2, 1993. As a result of the occupation, 53,340 people were displaced, 55 servicemen and 511 civilians were killed, 321 people were taken hostage and went missing, and thousands were injured.

After the occupation of Kalbajar by the Armenian armed forces, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 822. The resolution of the international organization demanded the immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Kalbajar and other occupied districts of Azerbaijan. However, like other resolutions, this document also remained unfulfilled. The 27-year long unfulfilled demand of the international organization, made up of hundreds of states, was realized by the Azerbaijani army in just 44 days.

The withdrawal of the occupying Armenian armed forces from Kalbajar was possible due to the political leadership, generalship of Azerbaijani President, victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, and successful military operations of the Azerbaijani army in the second patriotic war.

Thus, on September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani army, which prevented the provocation of the Armenian armed forces on the front, counter-attacked and liberated several districts, hundreds of villages, and settlements, strategic heights from the enemy. The 44-day Patriotic War, which resulted in the hoisting of Azerbaijan’s tricolor flag in the liberated cities, villages, and settlements, ended with the victory of the Azerbaijani army. The occupying Armenian armed forces could not withstand the irreversible attack of the Azerbaijani army and retreated with heavy losses. At the same time, thousands of enemy troops and military equipment were destroyed. Realizing the futility of resisting the Azerbaijani army, Armenia’s military-political leadership was forced to sign a capitulation document. Thus, the 27-year-old occupation of the Kalbajar District was ended and the district was liberated from the invaders. On the same day, units of the Azerbaijani army entered the district and the national flag was raised there.

In line with relevant decrees signed by President Ilham Aliyev on December 29, 2020, and June 24, 2021, a group of servicemen was awarded the medal For the liberation of Kalbajar for their personal courage and bravery displayed in the operations to liberate the city from occupation.

On August 16, 2021, President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the Kalbajar District. The president raised the Azerbaijani flag in Kalbajar. The president and the First Lady attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the 11.6-kilometer-long tunnel, built on the Toganali-Kalbajar road under Murovdag, and the 3.4-kilometer-long tunnel, built on the Kalbajar-Lachin road and visited the Istisu sanatorium. President Ilham Aliyev also inspected the work done at the Kalbajar Small Hydroelectric Power Station. Simultaneously, President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of the 110/35/10 kV Kalbajar sub-station, and the president launched it. New transformers with a capacity of 80 MVA have been installed at the new substation built in the Qamishli village of the Kalbajar District, equipped with modern equipment. A 110 kV open, and 35 and 10 kV indoor switchgear has been installed at the substation. The Kalbajar substation has been connected to the remote SCADA Dispatcher Control System, and a new control building has been built for this purpose. State-of-the-art digital technologies have been used here.

A 70-km-long 110 kW high-voltage double-circuit power transmission line was laid from Dashkasan to Kalbajar District, where the power system was completely destroyed by Armenians. Some anchor supports of the electricity line, which crosses Murovdag, have been installed at an altitude of 3,400 meters above sea level.

President Ilham Aliyev also inspected conditions created at X military unit in Kalbajar and the construction of the Minkand road, which will connect the Kalbajar and Lachin districts.

Currently, reconstruction work is being carried out in Kalbajar, new infrastructure is being built and the district is being revived. Over 71,000 natives of Kalbajar are looking forward to the day of their return to their homeland.

Karabakh is Azerbaijan!