Azerbaijan to restore railway leading to Khankendi in Nagorno-Karabakh [PHOTO]

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan is reconstructing the territories in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region that were destroyed under the 30 years of Armenian occupation. Following Azerbaijan’s victory in the 44-day-war President Ilham Aliyev announced that infrastructure would be built in all liberated territories.

Azerbaijan’s Transport Minister Ramin Guluzade said on December 15 that work is underway to restore the Barda-Aghdam railway to Khankendi, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Addressing the meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization member states transport ministers, Guluzade stressed that the territories destroyed by the Armenians would be rebuild and infrastructure would be restored.

“Work has already begun on the construction of a first-class road to our historic city of Shusha. Work is also underway to restore the Barda – Aghdam railway to Khankendi. These are the first projects,” he said.

He noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which had been a threat to peace and security in the region for 30 years, ended with a joint statement signed on November 10. Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity during the 44-day war, and liberated the occupied territories and ensured full control over the state border with Iran.

Furthermore, he briefed the participants on the activities and projects implemented to develop the transport sector of Azerbaijan, and the work done to eliminate the negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Additionally, the Minister brought to the attention of the participants his proposals to facilitate international transportation.

It should be noted that the main topic of the meeting was the difficulties and restrictions in international transportation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the ECO region, the steps taken to overcome them, as well as joint work.

A statement was adopted at the event on the development of cooperation in the field of transport and joint measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan's breakaway region that along with seven adjacent regions came under the Armenian occupation in the war in the early 1990s. For about three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian troops, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict. 

The war resumed on September 27 in 2020 with Armenia's attacks on Azerbaijani positions and civilians.

The 44-day war ended with the Russian brokered peace deal signed on November 10 by Azerbaijan, Russian and Armenian leaders. The peace agreement became effective on November 10 and envisages de-occupation of Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions by December 1 as well as the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven adjacent regions under the control of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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