Azerbaijan’s Khojaly welcomes another wave of returning families Seyidbayli residents receive keys after decades away PHOTO / UPDATED

Under the ongoing Great Return initiative, 18 families, totaling 61 individuals, have been handed the keys to newly constructed homes in the village of Seyidbayli, Azerbaijan’s Khojaly district.

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

This latest resettlement brings the total number of families returning to Seyidbayli to 27, encompassing 92 residents, further advancing efforts to facilitate the safe and dignified return of internally displaced persons to their ancestral communities.

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In a continuing step of the Great Return initiative, another group of former internally displaced persons has arrived in the village of Seyidbayli, Azerbaijan's Khojaly district.

The initiative is part of a broader program aimed at facilitating the safe and dignified return of displaced residents to their native villages, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

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A new stage of Azerbaijan’s Great Return program has commenced with the resettlement of 18 families — a total of 61 former internally displaced persons (IDPs) — to their restored homes in the village of Seyidbayli, Khojaly district.

The returning residents are among those displaced during the years of occupation. Their relocation to Seyidbayli comes under the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, as part of a nationwide effort to restore normal life across the liberated territories, Caliber.Az reports per local media.

For decades, these families had been scattered across various parts of Azerbaijan, residing primarily in dormitories, sanatoriums, and administrative buildings.

In February 1992, Armenian forces, with support from the 366th regiment, perpetrated a massacre in Khojaly, resulting in the deaths of 613 civilians, including 63 children, 106 women, and 70 elderly individuals. This atrocity, recognized by Azerbaijan as genocide, left deep scars on the national consciousness.​

Following the city's liberation in 2023, efforts to restore and commemorate Khojaly have intensified. President Ilham Aliyev has initiated the construction of a memorial complex to honor the victims and ensure the tragedy is never forgotten. Additionally, the "Justice for Khojaly" campaign, launched in 2008, continues to gain international traction, with several countries and US states acknowledging the massacre as a crime against humanity.

Azerbaijan's Great Return program, launched in 2022, aims to resettle approximately 140,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) by 2026 in territories liberated during the 2020 Karabakh war.

The initiative encompasses the reconstruction of 100 settlements, including the development of housing, schools, hospitals, and utility networks, with over $4.6 billion allocated between 2020 and 2023 and projections of $17.6 billion by 2030.

The second phase of the Great Return, scheduled for 2026 -2040, aims to achieve the comprehensive restoration and reintegration of all liberated territories.

By Vafa Guliyeva