Kalbajar, 22 years under Armenian occupation
By Sara Rajabova
April 2 marks the 22nd anniversary of the occupation of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar region by the Armenian armed forces.
Launching a large-scale military operation on March 27, 1993, the Armenian armed forces occupied the Kalbajar region on April 2.
Kalbajar, an area of 1,936 square kilometers located outside Nagorno-Karabakh, was the scene of the torture of innocent people by the Armenian invaders.
As a result of the incident, 511 people died andand 321 went missing or were captured; 55 soldiers were killed during the fighting; 53,340 residents of the Kalbajar region became IDPs. Moreover, 132 settlements and Kalbajar's gold deposits were seized by the Armenians.
The invaders destroyed more than 500 industrial, construction, catering and retail facilities, 97 schools and 76 health facilities.
The Armenians also destroyed an Albanian temple in the Vang village, an Albanian church in Cherekdar, Lok fortress in Ganlikend, Ulukhan fortress in Garajanli, an Albanian church on Tartar River, the fortresses of Galabonu, Jomerd, Keshikchi, several mosques in the town of Kalbajar and Otaqli village, Taglidash Bridge over the Tartar River, a museum of history and ethnography, the AshigShamshir Cultural House, and the SeyidAsadullah shrine in theSoyudly summer field of the Kalbajar region.
After the occupation of Kalbajar, the Armenians continued to plunder natural resources and historical and religious monuments in the region.
Following the region's occupation, the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 822, demanding an immediate withdrawal from the region and other occupied areas of Azerbaijan. Armenia has not fulfilled the resolution.
Furthermore, contrary to the UN and OSCE principles, the Armenians have pursued a purposeful settlement of people in Kalbajar since 1999.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian, and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.
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