Khojaly Airport: Taxiing for takeoff Revival under the flag of Azerbaijan

The 3rd Shusha Global Media Forum has come to an end, but memories remain. Chief among them are the impressions left by visiting a number of restored and newly built facilities on Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.

Journalists and bloggers from Azerbaijan and around the world took a tour and witnessed many sights. Among them was the restored “Imarat” – a palace built by Panah Ali Khan in the 18th century. During the occupation, Armenians turned Aghdam into the “Hiroshima of the Caucasus”; the “Imarat” was destroyed, and the cemetery where prominent members of the Karabakh khans’ family were buried was subjected to vandalism. The mausoleum of Ibrahim Khalil Khan and the tombstone of Khurshidbanu Natavan were also demolished.

Following Azerbaijan’s victory in the 44-day war, restoration efforts began here, and on September 19, 2024, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony of the restored “Imarat”. Covering an area of 3.3 hectares, the complex includes ceremonial buildings, mausoleums, a historic cemetery, an equestrian facility showcasing Karabakh horses, and a visitor centre.

The next stop for the media representatives was the railway and bus terminal complex in Aghdam, which was inaugurated on May 10 with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev.

This infrastructure facility, located on a site covering approximately 8 hectares, offers all the conditions necessary for the comfort and convenience of citizens. It features all essential amenities, including waiting halls, ticket offices, a library, shops, entertainment areas, a restaurant, and rest zones. Easy access has been provided for passengers both to the railway platform and to bus stops. The complex also includes service buildings for various types of transport and a passenger platform.

In addition, ground-level parking areas have been created for light, medium, and large vehicles, along with platforms for intercity and regional bus routes, bicycle parking, a park, and an electric vehicle charging station.

After visiting Aghdam, the participants of the media forum headed to Khojaly, where they were informed about more than 30 years of occupation, the Khojaly genocide, and the fact that—following the full restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty as a result of local anti-terrorist measures conducted by the Azerbaijani Army in September 2023—reconstruction and development projects are now underway here, as in all other territories liberated from occupation.

And in this context, one episode comes to mind. In January 2013, Serzh Sargsyan, then a candidate for the presidency of Armenia, declared at a meeting with voters in the town of Noyemberyan: “The airport in Stepanakert (referring here to the airport in Khojaly – ed.) will open in the near future... Only a few issues remain to be resolved... and the airport will begin operating and receiving flights.” He even promised to be the first passenger on the “Yerevan–Stepanakert” flight.

These words, like all the other plans of the Armenian side, were empty from the outset—mere illusions that, under the pressure of Azerbaijan’s powerful “Iron Fist,” were swept into the dustbin of history, along with those who had dreamed them up.

Today, Serzh Sargsyan and the entire Karabakh clan have become nothing more than rusty political scrap—obsolete, unwanted, and with no future. A portion of this group, in fact, now stands accused under serious articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and regularly testifies before the Baku court. They surely recall Serzh Sargsyan and the old days with a sense of bitter nostalgia.

We, of course, will offer them no comfort. On the contrary, we can deepen the moral anguish of this separatist junta by noting that the Khojaly Airport—currently undergoing modernisation, with the runway being extended and the territory optimised—is certain to begin operations. And very soon, aircraft bearing the Azerbaijani flag on their fuselages will be taking off from here.

This confidence is reinforced by the fact that, in a short span of time, three international airports—Fuzuli, Zangilan, and Lachin—have already been built and put into operation on the liberated lands.