Presidential rep: Azerbaijan created its own model for post-war recovery

When Azerbaijan launched restoration work in its liberated territories, there was no ready-made roadmap to guide the process, which initially created major uncertainty and difficulties, said Emin Huseynov, Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the Aghdam, Fuzuli, and Khojavand districts.

Speaking at a panel discussion during the 1st Azerbaijan International Investment Forum, Huseynov stressed that one of the key lessons learned was the ability to revive devastated areas from scratch, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

"One of the most important lessons was that we acquired a new skill — we learned how to restore a completely destroyed, long-devastated environment. We did this efficiently, effectively and sustainably," he said. "Of course, we studied various international practices. But we realised that there is no universal model that could be applied to Azerbaijan as it stands. This meant that we had to create our own approach, our own model of restoration. It was President Ilham Aliyev who initiated this path – a specific five-stage roadmap."

According to Huseynov, the roadmap began with extensive planning. "The second stage is demining. This is one of the most serious problems in the liberated territories," he explained. "As the demining work progressed, the third stage began – the construction of basic infrastructure. Then the socio-economic infrastructure was created. And finally, the process of returning internally displaced persons to their native lands began."

He underlined that the five-stage system was critical to ensuring sustainable progress. "Over the past five years, we have made great progress. The process is ongoing, but almost 50,000 people are already living and working in the liberated territories," Huseynov noted. "New cities, villages, neighbourhoods and settlements are being built, economic activity is reviving, and students are returning to their studies. In short, life is returning to Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur."

By Tamilla Hasanova