Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

October 29 marks twenty years of the occupation of Zangilan, an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenian armed forces since a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

Zangilan, which was the last region of Azerbaijan to be occupied by Armenians, didn't bow down to the enemy from 1988 till November 1993 and resisted the attacks, losing hundreds of martyrs.

Zangilan, which was one of the remotest regions of the country, bordered on one side by the occupied Jabrayil and Gubadly regions, and on the other side by Iran and Armenia.

Zangilan has a 157 mile border with Armenia, which had a significant impact on the gradual increase in tension in the region from 1988, since the beginning of the open hostile actions of the Armenians aimed at claiming Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Since then, the area began to receive thousands of Azerbaijani refugees from the neighboring historical Azerbaijani regions.

In 1993, the Zangilan region's population, having been surrounded after the occupation of the Gubadly and Jabrayil regions, saw a way out in crossing the Araz River to get to the Iranian territory. Otherwise, they could have been subjected to the horrors similar to those of the Khojaly tragedy of February 1992.

During the Karabakh war Zangilan lost 188 people. So far, the region's 44 residents are among the people missing in the aftermath of the bitter conflict with Armenia.

The region is of strategic importance as it is located along the Baku-Nakhchivan-Julfa railway. The Minjivan station, traversed by the Baku-Minjivan-Gafan railway, was completely destroyed after the occupation.

Prior to the invasion 35,000 people lived in the Zangilan region, which covers an area of 707 sq. km. The region's economy was based on agriculture, including winegrowing, tobacco growing and livestock breeding.

The Zangilan region, which included a city, a settlement and 83 villages, had 9 preschool institutions, 19 primary and 15 secondary schools, one vocational school, one music school, 35 libraries, eight cultural centers, 23 club-houses and 22 film projector facilities.

The largest plane forest in Europe was also located in the region. Unfortunately, the Armenians are felling these plane trees and selling them to foreign countries. Valuable trees, molybdenum, marble, gold, granite and other mineral resources are also being plundered by the Armenians.

There are facts indicating that the Basitcay State Nature Reserve, established in 1974 in the region, is in a deplorable state. The Armenians cut down valuable trees growing there and use them in the furniture industry.

Zangilan's territory is also rich in archaeological and architectural monuments, the largest of which is the ruins of a medieval city known as Shahri Sharifam.

Unfortunately, after the occupation, the Armenians plundered or falsified the samples of the region's ancient historical monuments.

The Armenians also continue environmental terror in Zangilan. As a result of the arsons committed by the Armenians, a great part of the region's territory has burnt down, and valuable trees and preserves have been destroyed.

After Zangilan's occupation, more than 35,000 local residents had to be settled in 52 settlements across the country.

Now the residents who were ousted from their homes long for liberation of their native lands from the Armenian occupation and proper enforcement of international law.

Like other IDPs, the region's residents who were forced out receive assistance from the Azerbaijani government. Significant steps have been taken to improve their living conditions.

However, this support has not diminished the desire of Zangilan residents to return to their homes and further inspired their hope to return to their homeland.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.

A precarious cease-fire was signed in 1994. However, the Armenian forces commit armistice breaches on the frontline almost every day.