Foreign diplomats visit Azerbaijan’s liberated Shusha city

By Vugar Khalilov

Over 100 foreign diplomats accredited in Azerbaijan and members of international organizations are on a visit in Azerbaijan’s Shusha city liberated from the Armenian occupation in autumn 2020, local media reported on July 9.

Presidential Aide Hikmat Hajiyev is accompanying the diplomats during the visit that aims to inform the guests about the restoration and reconstruction work carried out in Shusha, familiarize them with Shusha’s original architecture and Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The delegation got to Shusha through the new Victory Road and also visited the construction of the Fuzuli airport and substation.

Among the visitors are ambassadors of Turkey, Pakistan, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Poland, Israel, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Belarus, Ukraine, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Algeria and other countries as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, representatives of the World Health Organization.

The visit has been organized in line with the instruction of the Azerbaijani president to familiarize the foreign diplomats with the recently liberated regions.

The diplomatic corps accredited in Azerbaijan has so far visited liberated Agdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Gubadli and Lachin where they witnessed Armenian-inflicted destruction and also the reconstruction work being carried out in these territories.

Azerbaijan allocated AZN 2.2 billion ($1.3bn) for reconstruction works in the liberated territories in 2021. In particular, these fund will be used to restore the infrastructure (electricity, gas, water, communications, roads, education, health, etc), as well as cultural and historical monuments.

Azerbaijani Army liberated 300 city centers, settlements, villages and the historic Shusha city in the war that lasted from September 27 to November 10. The Russian-brokered peace deal also stipulated the return of Kalbajar, Lachin and Aghdam regions occupied by the Armenian forces in the war in the early 1990s.