“Great Return”: 18 Azerbaijani ex-IDP families get keys to new homes in Khanyurdu PHOTO

On October 8, another group of former Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDP) was resettled in the village of Khanyurdu, Khojaly District.

As many as 18 families — a total of 69 people — who had been temporarily living in various cities and regions across the country, have now moved to Khanyurdu village, APA reports, citing the Public Relations Department of the Service for Restoration, Construction and Management in Khankendi, Aghdara, and Khojaly districts.

The new residents received the keys to their newly built homes.

Modern individual houses have been constructed in Khanyurdu, fully equipped with electricity, gas, water supply, communications, and internet access.

To date, a total of 69 families — 237 former internally displaced persons — have been resettled in Khanyurdu village.

The return of IDPs to Azerbaijan's liberated territories represents a cornerstone of the country's post-conflict recovery strategy following decades of occupation by Armenia. This process, known as the "Great Return" program, addresses the displacement of approximately 600,000 Azerbaijanis during the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s, when Armenia occupied Karabakh and seven adjacent districts.

The program's acceleration began after Azerbaijan's victories in the 44-day Patriotic War of 2020, which liberated a significant part of the occupied territories, and culminated in the anti-terrorist operation of September 19–20, 2023, restoring full sovereignty over the region. These events enabled the safe return of IDPs to their ancestral lands, reversing the effects of occupation, which included the destruction of villages, cultural sites (e.g., dozens of mosques), and infrastructure.

By Khagan Isayev