Azerbaijan marks Kalbajar City Day, five years after liberation

Azerbaijan marks Kalbajar City Day on 25 November, commemorating five years since the district’s liberation from nearly three decades of Armenian occupation.

As Caliber.Az recalls, Kalbajar City Day is observed annually on November 25 under a presidential decree issued by President Ilham Aliyev on July 31, 2023.

The liberation of the Kalbajar district became possible thanks to the political leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Ilham Aliyev, and the successful military operations of the Azerbaijani Army during the Patriotic War.

Kalbajar was supposed to be returned to Azerbaijan on November 15 under the statement signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

However, the Armenian side requested an additional 10 days to withdraw its units and illegally deployed formations from the district.

Demonstrating humanitarianism and taking into account the request of the President of Russia, Azerbaijan agreed to postpone the return of Kalbajar until November 25.

On September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani Army, preventing a provocation by the Armenian armed forces, launched a counter-offensive, liberating several districts, hundreds of villages and settlements, and strategic heights.

The 44-day Patriotic War culminated in the victory of the valiant Azerbaijani Army.

The military-political leadership of Armenia, realising its defeat on the battlefield, was forced to sign an act of capitulation.

The Kalbajar district was occupied by Armenian armed formations on April 2, 1993. As a result of the occupation, 53,340 Azerbaijanis became internally displaced; 55 servicemen and 511 civilians were killed; 321 people were taken prisoner or went missing; and thousands of residents were wounded.