About 100 schoolchildren from regions whose territory was liberated from occupation participated in the drawing competition held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Azerbaijan. The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in our country presented each of them a set of school supplies. On November 18, 10 artworks selected in the competition organized within the framework of the Embassy’s “2022 - Support to Refugees and IDPs” project were exhibited at the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs.

The Chairman of the State Committee Rovshan Rzayev and the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to our country Lee Eun-Young had a detailed conversation about the status and importance of the project after viewing the exhibition.

At the meeting, the guest was informed about the works done by our state in solving the problems of refugees and internal displacement, the restoration and construction measures implemented after the liberation of the territories from the occupation of Armenia, and the preparations for the Great Return.

It was brought to attention that refugees and IDPs are always surrounded by the attention and care of President Ilham Aliyev, and that First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva also approaches the solution of their social problems with special sensitivity. It was reported that the “First State Program on the Great Return to territories liberated from occupation” approved by the head of our country and its Action Plan are a demonstration of desire and determination to rapidly revive Karabakh and East Zangezur, where the settlements and infrastructure of our people and our state occupied by Armenia for nearly 30 years have been destroyed, and achieve high development of those areas. It was emphasized that the implementation of a number of projects envisaged in the Action Plan was started immediately after the victory in the 44-day war. In particular, it was mentioned that 66 families were relocated to the Aghali village of Zangilan region, which was rebuilt on the basis of the concept of “Smart village” by the State Committee within the framework of the Great Return, and that the relocation will continue.

The Korean diplomat was also informed about the important issues related to the preparation of the IDPs for the Great Return, as well as the possible directions of cooperation in the direction of their solution.

Expressing gratitude for the warm reception, Ambassador Lee Eun-Young reminded that his country was also faced with the problem of refugees and displaced persons, therefore, he said that the Koreans understand well the wishes and goals of Azerbaijan. Emphasizing that he was impressed by the pictures of the internally displaced schoolchildren describing the friendly relations with Korea, the diplomat emphasized that he considers the participation of the embassy in supporting the issues related to the Great Return to be important. He also noted that this year the embassy plans to provide technical equipment for refugee and internally displaced schoolchildren. The delivery of that equipment has been carried out.

It should be noted that since 2014, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in our country has been carrying out support measures for the IDPs and refugees in Azerbaijan as a result of the Karabakh conflict.