The liberation of our homeland by our brave army under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev created conditions for the return of IDPs who have been living in exile for nearly thirty years. 

In this regard, the opinion of the Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fuad Huseynov that IDPs will be returned to their lands on a voluntary basis was misunderstood and caused public discussion. However, the statement stressed that the absolute majority of our IDP cognates are determined to return to their native lands, noting that their safe and dignified return is the only option desired by the IDPs themselves.

As the head of state has repeatedly stated, the return of the IDPs to their native lands, to the territories inhabited by our people for centuries is one of the main goals of the struggle against the aggressor and occupier Armenia and the great victory achieved. That is why IDPs want to return to their native lands, and they have always stated in their recent appeals to the country’s leadership and the State Committee that they are determined not only to return, but also to take an active part in the construction works in our lands liberated from occupation. 

At present, IDPs have temporarily settled in various places in our republic. In particular, more than 300 thousand IDPs have been placed in the residential areas belonging to the special purpose state housing fund in the settlements built for them. 

President Ilham Aliyev said when meeting with servicemen treated at the Clinical Medical Center No. 1 these days: “Dear former IDPs, you are no longer an IDP. I address them in the presence of our heroic soldiers and officers: You are not an IDP, you are returning. We will return you. See, those sitting here, thousands of our soldiers and officers, are returning you to your native lands. We, the Azerbaijani state, will do our best to return you as soon as possible”.

Returning to the liberated lands at the expense of the blood of the heroic sons of our people, reviving and giving life to these sacred lands, building new houses, establishing farms and permanently settling there must be considered as the embodiment of the moral duty of our IDP compatriots, devotion to the homeland and national values.