Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

A group of foreign students studying in Azerbaijani universities and representatives of the media visited the liberated Jojug Marjanli village of the country’s Jabrayil region on April 5.

During the visit organized by the Education Ministry, Deputy Minister Firudin Gurbanov informed the students about the history of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the atrocities committed by Armenians in Jojug Marjanli village, which was occupied in 1993.

“The village was liberated from the Armenian occupation as a result of the Azerbaijani army’s Horadiz operation in 1994. As Armenians occupied the strategic height Leletepe before the April battles in 2016, it was impossible to live in the Jojug Marjanli village," Gurbanov said, adding that it became safe to live in the village only after the Azerbaijani Armed Forces liberated the height.

The foreign students were also informed about efforts to restore the village in accordance with the presidential decree, including the activities on mine clearance and construction works in Jojug Marjanli.

The visitors also got acquainted with the construction of a new 150-seat school, the foundation of which was laid in February. They also visited the Gaziyevs family, the only family living in Jojug Marjanli for more than 20 years. The visitors planted trees in the village.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons hit more than 1.2 million. With a population of over 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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