First group of families returns to four villages in Azerbaijan’s Aghdara district PHOTO/UPDATED

Keys to new flats have been handed over to families returning to the villages of Ashaghi Oratagh, Heyvali, Chapar, and Chıldıran in Azerbaijan’s Aghdara district.

A welcome ceremony was held at the district centre to mark the occasion, Caliber.Az reports via local media. 

Officials from the Restoration, Construction and Management Service, the State Committee for Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons in the city of Khankendi and the Aghdara and Khojaly districts, as well as the members of the President’s Special Representation in the same area attended the ceremony.

The first convoy of settlers has now arrived at the district centre, signaling the next phase of the country’s post-war resettlement efforts.

 With the latest arrivals, the total number of residents resettled in Aghdara has reached 2,663 people from 714 families.

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For the first time, 89 families comprising 337 people have departed to resettle in four villages of Azerbaijan’s Aghdara district—Ashaghi Oratagh, Heyvali, Chapar and Chıldıran—under the country’s post-war resettlement efforts.

According to official figures, 31 families (119 people) are relocating to Ashaghi Oratagh, 19 families (74 people) to Heyvali, 26 families (96 people) to Chapar, and 13 families (48 people) to Chıldıran, Caliber.Az reports via local media. 

With this latest relocation, the total number of residents resettled in the Aghdara district has reached 2,663 people from 714 families.

The returns are part of Azerbaijan’s “Great Return” programme, launched after the country’s victory in the 44-day Patriotic War in 2020. The nationwide initiative aims to facilitate the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of more than one million former internally displaced persons to their ancestral lands by 2030.

The programme includes large-scale reconstruction of housing and infrastructure, as well as the establishment of schools, healthcare facilities, utilities, and other essential public services. 

By Sabina Mammadli