“Life is again back to Agali”
A year has passed since the first residents returned to the village/VIDEO

KARABAKH 19 July 2023 - 19:31

The wind is gently fluttering the Azerbaijani national flag, installed in the village of Agali, Zangilan District, and the rising sun illuminates it with its rays... The villagers have been seeing this picture for a year now, knowing that this flag symbolizes how much effort Azerbaijan spent on liberating its land from the long-term Armenian occupation that it is thanks to the Azerbaijani soldier, thanks to the blood of the martyrs, that they can live and work in peace on their land - forever!

The Great Victory in the Patriotic War in the fall of 2020, when, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, the national army liberated Azerbaijani lands from many years of Armenian occupation, opened the way to the restoration of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, which the Armenians have turned into ruins over the years. And the first sign there was the return of the first inhabitants to the village of Agali in Zangilan District. Time flies, and now we are already celebrating the anniversary of this glorious event.

After our victory, there was a lot of skepticism abroad - they said that nothing could be built on the ruins left by the Armenians, in the middle of an ecologically devastated land stuffed with mines for decades to come. But the people who achieved the great victory over the Armenians under the leadership of Ilham Aliyev are now performing an equally important restoration feat - and as a result of the president’s close attention to the restoration and construction work in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, the first residents returned to the village of Agali in Zangilan District after only a year and a half after the patriotic war.

An important factor was the sincere desire of the former internally displaced persons to return to their homes as soon as possible. For this, a lot of work has been done, a modern infrastructure has been created from scratch. At the same time, of course, all this construction requires considerable funds, and it is very good that, thanks to a strong economy, we have them.

It is also pivotal that these funds are spent usefully, reasonably, economically, transparently and so that everything is built, as they say, for centuries. And here it is necessary to note the great enthusiasm of the builders, who understood the great importance of this village for the whole of Azerbaijan. Without any external assistance (only a few brotherly countries are building schools in the liberated territories), the Azerbaijani state is implementing large-scale infrastructure projects on its own to restore the territories liberated from occupation.

Judge for yourself: the foundation of the “smart village” in Agali was laid by the president in April 2021, and already on July 19, 2022, a little more than a year later, the first residents returned to the village. During this time, a lot of work has been done - 200 private eco-friendly houses, four two-story non-residential buildings were built in the village: a school for 360 students, a kindergarten for 60 children. In addition, it is planned to build 150 houses for future migrants. At the same time, a unique ultra-modern infrastructure has been created there - the widespread installation of solar panels on the roofs of houses, "smart" street lighting, the construction of houses from environmental materials that are resistant to heat and cold.

To provide the village with a constant source of electricity, a turbine-type hydroelectric power plant with three generators was built on the Khakari River, which fully meets all the internal needs of the village for electricity.

Agali residents rejoice at the conditions created by the state. Thus, a resident Kanan Nabiyev said that he does not intend to leave Agali anywhere and abandon the conditions created here, clean air and water.

“My parents' stories about Agali left an indelible mark on my memory. I never believed that I would see him. I was very happy with the news that after the war Agali would be the first to be restored, and I wanted to be one of the first to move here. I was told that I would miss Baku, but this did not happen. Although I was not born here, now it feels like I can’t live anywhere else but Agali,” he said.

In turn, Bahar Samadova, who was one of the first to move to a village liberated from occupation, said that all conditions for a comfortable life have been created in Agali.

“Now the further development of the village depends on us, its inhabitants. I have moved to a new, fully finished house. We were helped to create other necessary conditions. The rest is up to us. The village has uninterrupted water and electricity supply. The main thing is that we are in our native Agali, and we are immensely grateful for this. During the year of my life in Agali, I only went to Baku once.

And during those two days, I couldn't wait to get home. We were forced to live away from Agali for many years, but today we are here in our native village. We will live here, build and create. I want all internally displaced persons to return to their native lands soon. I believe that each of us is obliged to return to the liberated territories in order to turn these lands into paradise. We need to live and create in the lands where the blood of martyrs has been shed. This is necessary for the prosperity of our state,” she said.

Now in Agali a lot of attention is paid to the issue of employment of residents. Agriculture is built according to modern methods, including a pilot system of economical irrigation of 157 hectares of sown land. In addition to agricultural and farming activities, there is other work - the village has a first-aid post, a police station, a regional branch of Azerpost company, services are provided by ASAN and DOST Services, as well as a Small and Medium Business Development Center, it has its own gas station, school and kindergarten.

All of these are permanent jobs. And the result of the joint efforts of the state and citizens is obvious - life in the village is getting better every day.

In February, the first child was already born in Agali - in the family of Zeynalovs – the natives of the village, the boy was named Turan.

In early July, the first engagement party in 30 years took place in Agali! A young man, Rufat Dulyamaliyev, from Sumgayit, engaged with a girl, called Arzu, a village resident from the Mammadov family. The engagement ceremony for Arzu and Rufat was attended not only by relatives and friends, but also by representatives of various government agencies.

So, life, as they say, goes on. And as a result of the glorious victory in the 44-day war, Azerbaijan had the opportunity both to return the former internally displaced persons to their lands, which they had not seen it for almost 30 years, and the full-scale revival of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur. We already see this process - after Agali, Lachin and Shusha are being settled, next in line are Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli, Zangilan, Kalbajar and all other cities and villages, over which, after three decades of darkness of occupation, the sun of freedom and long-awaited revival has finally risen!