22 years pass since Aghdam’s occupation

By Sara Rajabova - AzerNews 

Twenty two years passed from the occupation of Azerbaijan’s ancient and historical Aghdam region, which had a great role in the life of the country for its economical and scientific potential.

July 23 marks the invasion of Aghdam by the Armenian armed forces during the brutal war fought by the two South Caucasus republics in the early 1990s.

The occupation of Aghdam was the third painful blow to Azerbaijan after the occupation in Lachin and Kalbajar around Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result of the Armenian armed forces' attack on Aghdam, the town was razed to the ground.

The Armenians invaded most of Aghdam's territory on July 23, 1993. The Armenian aggressors seized 882 sq. km. of the 1,094 sq. km. territory of Aghdam, including one city and 80 villages. Some 128,000 people became internally displaced - 17,000 of them were adults.

Over 6,000 people died during the fighting in Aghdam. About 130,000 displaced persons from Aghdam have been settled in 875 settlements of 59 regions across Azerbaijan.

Following the occupation of Aghdam by the Armenian armed forces,the UN Security Council adopted the resolution #853, which demanded "the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of occupying forces from the Aghdam and other recently occupied regions of Azerbaijan.

However, Yerevan is completely indifferent to four UN Security Council, as well as the UN General Assembly resolutions calling for an immediate and unconditional pullout of Armenian armed force from all the occupied territories.

More damage occurred in the following decades when the deserted town was looted for building materials. Aghdam is currently a ruined and uninhabited town. Aghdam region was frequently referred as a ‘ghost town’ by the foreign media.

Armenian vandals destroyed historical monuments, cemeteries, hospitals, libraries, schools, offices and facilities in the occupied territory. 122 villages, around 24,000 residential buildings, 48 industrial and construction enterprises, 160 schools, 65 health centers, 373 cultural centers, 1 theater, 3 mosques and 2 museums were burnt down and completely destroyed.

Aghdam had a lot of historical architectural monuments. The Uzerlik Hill situated in the village of Khindiristan, the cupola of Gutlu Musa oglu in Khachinderbend (1314-th year), the tombs and the stone monuments in Salahli-Kengerli village (14th century), Khanoglu tomb (17th century), the mansion of Karabakh Khan Panahali and his family (18th century), the castle of Shahbulaq and others confirm that this place belongs to Azerbaijan.

However, most of the historical monuments were destroyed following Armenian occupation. They included the Khanoglu tomb (17th century), the mansion of Panahali Khan and his tomb (19th century), and the twin-minaret Aghdam Juma mosque (1870).

Armenia is still continuing to plunder Azerbaijani cultural property and violating The Hague Convention clause on the protection of cultural property during war and a provision on "illicit traffic of cultural property" in Paris Convention.

The Armenian invaders also depleted the natural resources of the region after the occupation, according to the facts revealed by a center of the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry of Azerbaijan.

The eastern sycamore trees aged up to 400 years and other tree species were destroyed in the occupied territories and currently are about to be effaced from the world flora treasure. Arsons committed in the occupied villages of Aghdam by Armenian soldiers resulted in the perishing of various partridges, pheasants and vipers, which are included in the "Red Book" and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species.

As a result of the occupation of Aghdam, Azerbaijan sustained material damages worth a staggering $6.179 billion. The damages inflicted to the region's agriculture were alone estimated at 992.8 million manats ($1.272 billion).

Armenia's territorial claims in the late 1980s and the ensuing military aggression resulted in the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and also seven surrounding regions. Over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs in the aftermath of the ensuing war between the two South Caucasus republics.