On June 3, Chairman of the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs Rovshan Rzayev met with the board member of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, head of the Press Advisory Council of the United Communities of Canada Tony Ruprecht, journalist Inga Soney-Kellner and Consular Coordinator for Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Federation of Canada Ismail Vataneri.

The guests were informed about the policy of occupation and deportation of Armenia and the difficulties faced by more than one million refugees and IDPs of our country for many years, the measures taken by the Azerbaijani government to address their social problems. It was noted that President Ilham Aliyev pays special attention to strengthening the social protection of IDPs, improving their living conditions and increasing employment, and the initiatives of First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva in this field are of great importance. It was stated that 116 modern-type settlements with the necessary social and technical infrastructure have been built to improve the housing and living conditions of IDPs.

After the liberation of its territories from the occupation of Armenia, Azerbaijan has set organization of the return of IDPs to those territories as the most important task. At present, security measures are being taken for this purpose, and the settlements and infrastructure destroyed by the occupiers are being restored and reconstructed.

It was noted that the opening ceremony of the first stage of the “Smart Village” project was held in Aghali village of Zangilan region with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva. The resettlement of IDP families in the village will start soon. At the same time, it was noted that the State Committee, together with local and international organizations, implements projects to support the employment of IDPs who will be relocated to the liberated territories.

Tony Ruprecht, the Board member of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada and head of the Press Advisory Council of the United Communities of Canada, thanked the chairman of the committee for providing detailed information on the activities of the State Committee and the return of IDPs.

The meeting was attended by the head of the Azerbaijan Art and Culture Center “Vatan” Lalin Hasanova and a member of the center Eldar Hasanov.