Great Return: another group of former IDPs receives keys to homes in Vangli village PHOTO/UPDATED

A group of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Azerbaijan’s Agdara district has officially received keys to their new homes in Vangli village upon arrival.

The key-handover ceremony was attended by officials from the Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in Khankandi, as well as representatives from the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, Caliber.Az reports per local media. 

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A new group of former internally displaced persons has moved to the village of Vangli in the Aghdara district.

At this stage, nine families, a total of 38 people, who previously lived in various regions of the country, are resettling in the village, Caliber.Az reports per local media.

With this latest group, the number of families who have returned to Vangli has reached 85, comprising 329 people in total.

Aghdara, a strategically vital district in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region, was occupied by Armenian forces during the First Karabakh War (1988–1994). 

By 1992, the entire district—spanning about 1,150 km² with over 20 villages, fertile lands, and the Sarsang Reservoir—was under Armenian control, displacing around 15,000 Azerbaijani residents. Infrastructure was systematically destroyed, and the area served as a military outpost.

The district's liberation occurred in two phases during the Second Karabakh War (September 27–November 10, 2020). Azerbaijani forces first recaptured key strategic heights in the Aghdara direction on September 27, 2020, disrupting Armenian supply lines.

Further advances in October secured villages like Sugovushan and Talish on October 3, restoring water supplies to northern Azerbaijan and marking a pivotal northeastern front victory.

By Sabina Mammadli