“Great Return”: Residents receive keys for their new homes in Hadrut, Shushakand villages Photo/UPDATED

As part of Azerbaijan’s ongoing “Great Return” resettlement program for liberated territories, families arriving in the village of Hadrut in Khojavand district have been handed the keys to their new apartments.

At this stage, 17 families comprising 63 people have returned to Hadrut, bringing the total number of families resettled in the village to 27 families (104 people), Caliber.Az reports per local media.

The key handover ceremony was attended by officials from the office of the Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in Aghdam, Fizuli, and Khojavend districts, as well as representatives of the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.

Meanwhile, another group of former internally displaced persons has settled in Shushakand village in Khojaly district, where 15 families totaling 54 people received the keys to their apartments. 

With this phase of resettlement, the number of families now living in Shushakand has reached 76 families (284 people).

 Officials from the Special Representative Office of the President of Azerbaijan in Khankendi, Aghdara, and Khojaly districts, along with the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, attended the ceremony.

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A new group of formerly internally displaced persons (IDPs) has departed for the villages of Hadrut in Khojavand district and Shushakand in Khojaly district as part of the country’s ongoing “Great Return” resettlement program for liberated territories.

Authorities said that at this stage, 17 families (63 people) are en route to Hadrut, while 15 families (54 people) are heading to Shushakand. The families had been living in temporary accommodations across various regions of Azerbaijan, including dormitories, sanatoriums, and administrative buildings, Caliber.Az reports via local media. 

Residents returning to their native lands expressed their gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva for the comprehensive state care.

The relocation of IDPs to territories regained after decades of Armenian occupation remains a key element of Azerbaijan’s post-conflict recovery strategy. The initiative, known as the “Great Return” program, addresses the displacement of nearly 600,000 Azerbaijanis during the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s.

The program gained momentum after Azerbaijan’s military successes in the 44-day war of 2020, which saw the liberation of a significant portion of occupied land, and the September 19–20, 2023 anti-terrorist operation that restored 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 Sabina Mammadli