27 years since Kalbajar’s occupation by Armenian armed forces [PHOTO]

2 April 2020 13:47 (UTC+04:00)

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By Akbar Mammadov

Twenty-seven years have passed since the occupation of Kalbajar, the largest of the occupied regions of Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh war with neighboring Armenia in the early 1990s.

The occupation of the Kalbajar region was the greatest military-strategic defeat of Azerbaijan in the Karabakh war.

The large-scale attack of the Armenian military units, which began on March 27, ended with the occupation of the Kalbajar region on April 2, 1993.

As a result of the occupation, 53,340 people were expelled from their ancestral lands, 511 civilians were killed, 321 people were taken prisoner and went missing, and the region suffered $761 million in damage.

As a result of the occupation, the district center, about 150 villages, as well as dozens of historical and cultural monuments, a museum, "Istisu" sanatorium and other important facilities were destroyed by Armenian forces.

The territory of Kalbajar region is 1936 square kilometers, and the population was over 93,000 before the occupation. Residents of the region currently live in 56 regions of Azerbaijan.

Following the occupation of Kalbajar, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 822 calling for the immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Kalbajar and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan. However, so far no obligations arising from the resolution have been fulfilled. Subsequently, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 854 on the liberation of the Aghdam region, 874 on the liberation of the Fizuli region and 884 on the liberation of other occupied territories, but these resolutions remain on paper.

So far, Armenia has not implemented the four resolutions of the UN Security Council on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.

The confict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan emerged in 1998 as Armenia made territorial claims against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The ensuring war caused Armenia to occupy around 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s lands, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97