Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, participates in the opening ceremony of the new settlement for internally displaced families in Aghdam region.

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Mətbuat xidmətinin məlumatı 12 November, 2010

On November 11, 2010, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva took part at the opening ceremony of the new settlement built for the internally displaced persons in the District of Aghdam. Ali Hasanov, deputy prime minister, chairman of the State Committee for the Affairs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, informed President Ilham Aliyev on the new settlement built in the territory of the District of Aghdam for 689 internally displaced families. He declared that the new settlement, which was built on the errand of the Azerbaijani President for improving the living conditions of the internally displaced persons, occupies a territory of 70 hectares, its useful living floor is 37 187 square meters, it has been provided with all necessary infrastructure. Each house has a yard with 0,6 hectares of land for gardening A transformer with the capacity of 1000 kilowatts has been assembled and overland power lines have been conducted. A fresh water pipeline in the length of 20 km, a gas pipeline in the length of about 34 kilometers have been laid and four gas regulating stations have been assembled. The road structure created here meets the modern standards. The territory of the park laid here for the rest of the residents of the settlement is 1, 7 hectares. The President Ilham Aliyev and his spouse got familiar with the condition created in the four room apartment of Oruj Jabbarov, Karabakh war veteran. Jabbarov expressed his gratitude to the Head of the State for the conditions established for internally displaced families. Oruj Jabbarov, veteran of the war in NagornoKarabakh, met the Azerbaijani President and his wife together with the members of his family in front of the house given to them. Oruj Jabbarov: “Mr. President, you are welcome. Mr. President, I invite you to tea in the house which you have presented to us. President Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva were hosted in the house. Ilham Aliyev: “How many square meters is the living floor of the house?” Ali Hasanov: “There are four rooms in the flat, the total living floor here is 85 square meters.” Ilham Aliyev: “Very well, it has all conveniences.” Oruj Jabbarov: “Yes, it has.” Ilham Aliyev: “It is a good house, built of stone.” Oruj Jabbarov: “Thank you very much. May God help you!” Ilham Aliyev: “Where did you live before and in what conditions?” Oruj Jabbarov: “Mr. President, we were living in the Finnish-type settlement for over 18 years in very critical conditions. We are very glad today. I wish God fulfilled all your desires for creating such pleasant living conditions for us. When we entered the house, we did not believe in what we saw. We were very glad; I thank you on behalf of my family.” Ilham Aliyev: “Not at all. I am very glad that the houses are being built with such a high quality. It is a big program. It is the 17th settlement built in the district of Aghdam. Settlements are being built in other districts as well. We must work so much as to provide our compatriots with better living conditions, though temporarily. What village are you from?” Oruj Jabbarov: “From the village of Ahmadavar of Aghdam. From 1988 till 1996 we were in region where battles were waged. We fought well, even demonstrated heroism, particularly at the night of February 25 and the early hours of February 26, when the genocide in Khojaly took place. Khojaly was close to us, 8 -10 kilometers. We saved about 100 people there. The text-books also tell about it. Ali Hasanov: “He has an interesting history; I see that he feels difficulty to speak about it. On February 26 when the genocide in Khojaly took place, it was necessary to take the people out from there. The battalion of volunteers in which he served, including him, hurried there. It is written in the text-books about it. He is the man in the photo with a child in his arms leaving Khojaly. The photo is in the text-books of history. Oruj Jabbarov: “The photos are also in the text-books of English, with children in our arms. Ali Hasanov: “Now I see that their daughters are timid, are ashamed to ask, but yesterday they were asking their mother if the house had really been given to them, would it not be taken back.” Mehriban Aliyeva: “Were the girls who met us your daughters? Have you two daughters? The hostess: “Yes, we have to daughters and a son. Ilham Aliyev: “Thousands of such houses have been built in the recent years, thousands of them. Our people lived in tent camps, in digouts before. We have built new settlements, schools, laid roads. Big amount of finances are demanded for it, but we must do them. But all of us know that it is a temporary residence, a temporary address. At present your village is under occupation. After its liberation, after the liberation of that region we shall build beautiful houses there. We shall restore all the villages. You know, the Armenians have destroyed Aghdam completely. Not a single house has remained there untouched. All the houses have been destroyed, equaled to earth. But we shall restore them after its liberation; make it more beautiful than before.” Oruj Jabbarov: “I wish we had that day come. Mr. President, you work hard, take much trouble for the liberation of Karabakh, for the happy day of our people, you toil day and night. We watch everything on TV. I wish God helped you, your troubles not lost in vain: Ilham Aliyev: “Of course, in the first stage we had to move the people from the tent camps. It was impossible to live in those intolerable conditions. We moved them from those camps. Now we are liquidating the Finnish-type settlements and build such settlements for the people living in them. That is, after your move to this settlement, these regions will be enlarged; the number of the population is growing. In our country the demographic situation is developing in the positive direction in comparison with Armenia. It means that when you move to your native village, these houses will be occupied by our other citizens. The entire infrastructure has been created here; there is a school, a dispensary, a community center here. Only in this settlement 700 houses have been built.” Ali Hasanov: “Yes, you are right, you have moved 52 000 people from the tent camps, these 52 000 people lived in tent camps. You liquidated the last tent camp in 2007, 25 000 people like these ones lived in the Finnish-type settlements.” Ilham Aliyev: “What is the number of population in the territory of the District of Aghdam at present?” Nizami Sadigov, head of administration of the district of Aghdam: “About 90 000. Mr. President, after the construction of the gas pipeline to the territory of the district by your errand about 20 000-25 0000 people have returned home. Last year we used the gas at our pleasure.” Ilham Aliyev: “I have instructed the State Oil Company to pay a special attention to these regions, to the region of Aghdam and Fuzuli; these regions must be supplied with gas soon.” Ali Hasanov: “The process of gasification is going on. The last settlement, which you visited, has already been gasified. All the new settlements which we have built and populated have been supplied with gas.” Ilham Aliyev: “What about other villages?” Nizami Sadigov: “Probably 90 per cent of them have been gasified. At present workers are engaged in the work in the houses. I think that all of them will be supplied with gas this winter.” Ilham Aliyev: “That is, the task is that within a brief time, this year, at least up to the middle of the next year all the villages of Aghdam will be supplied with gas.” Nizami Sadigov: “President of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev came here himself. He said to the workers to fulfill the errand of Mr. President as soon as possible.” Ilham Aliyev: “You are right, I sent him here. Of course, we gasify the villages, build sports complexes, hospitals, and new settlements, create farms and necessary conditions for the people to live. Now the majority of population of Aghdam has settled in the territory of the district.” Ali Hasanov: “Ninety thousand out of 160 000 population are already here, 60 000 out of those 90000 are internally displaced persons. Here we have villages not occupied by the enemy.” Oruj Jabbarov: “Mr. President, due to you we have a strong army. We believe that when the Supreme Commander-in-Chief orders, our strong army will liberate our territories. Our army is able to do it. We, the veterans, the residents of Aghdam, all the Azerbaijani people are ready to restore the integrity of our territory.” Ilham Aliyev: “Yes, you are right. The spirit of patriotism in the Azerbaijani people is very high. I am very glad that our youth is also being brought up in this spirit. We want our youth be patriots, be closely connected with the native land, our people, our culture, our past, our cultural heritage. What concerns the veterans, I know that you are ready any time to start for the frontline to fight. But I am sure that there will be no need for it. Our army has all the chances and potentials to restore our territorial integrity within a brief time. Then we shall rebuild Aghdam.” Then the President Ilham Aliyev participated in the opening ceremony of the school building with the capacity of 440 pupils. The residents of the settlement warmly welcomed the Head of the State and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva. A brown Karabakh type of horse was given to the President Ilham Aliyev as a gift. The Head of the State and his spouse met there with mugham professionals, listened to young singers and applauded their performance. Ali Hasanov, deputy prime minister, chairman of the State Committee for the Affairs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, declared that the state horse-breeding farm was created in 1948. At present there are about 500 horses in the farm. During the rule of the czarist Russia there was 9 000 horses of the Karabakh breed in the army. The Azerbaijani President and his spouse met and talked to popular masters of mugham from Aghdam. The People’s Artist Mansum Ibrahimov said: “Mr. President, taking the chance I want to express my deep gratitude to you. You honored me with the highest award of the country, the order of Shohrat (Glory). It is natural that this award was conferred not only on me, but on the music of mugham, on all the singers of mugham. I thank you on behalf of all of them. The road founded by our great leader Heydar Aliyev is successfully and with dignity continued due to you. With your permission I want to thank Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, too. She has a great labor, toil in the recognition of mugham in the world. She pays a particular attention to us and cares for us. I want to express my deep gratitude to you on behalf of all the population of Karabakh, and at the same time on behalf of the menofculture and art. I assure you that hence we shall devote all our efforts and skill to the development of Mugham.” Ilham Aliyev: “I congratulate you once more on the occasion of your jubilee.” The young local singers of mugham also demonstrated their skills. The admirable performance of mugham by the children once more proved the matchlessness of mugham and the deep traces which it has left in the memory of the gene of the Azerbaijani people. Then the Azerbaijani President met the residents of the settlement. Gadulla Safarov, a teacher of the secondary school #18 expressed his gratitude to the Head of the State for the attention and care rendered to the internally displaced people. Afterwards, the President Ilham Aliyev cut the ribbon which meant the symbolic opening of the school and got familiar with the conditions established there. The Head of the State was informed that the two storey school building has been constructed in a modern style. In the first floor there is an exhibition consisted of the historical exhibits found in the territory of Aghdam region. Apart from the classrooms in the first floor of the school there are canteen, physics and mathematics rooms. In the library samples of classical and modern Azerbaijan, as well as of the world literature can be found. In the second floor of the school there has been created a photo corner reflecting the attention and care of the national leader Heydar Aliyev and the President Ilham Aliyev to our education. There are a conference hall, physics and biology rooms in the second floor. There is another corner in the schhol reflecting the wide range education related projects of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. History, Azerbaijan language, initial military training of youth, computer and rooms for other subject, as well as laboratories have been equipped with the most modern facilities. There will be held basketball, wrestling and volleyball trainings in the sports hall. The President Ilham Aliyev watched the performance of the young sportsmen. The Head of the State was informed that there are large and bright rooms, various playing halls, and preschool preparation sections in the kindergarten, with the capacity of 50 children, constructed in the area of the settlement. In the centre of the settlement there are a separate administrative building and a community centre having a meeting room with the capacity of 152 people for conducting various events. Ilham Aliyev congratulated the internally displaced persons who had got houses in the settlement and said: “Dear friends, dear sisters and brothers! I greet all of you cordially. I cordially congratulate you on the occasion of this new settlement. Our dear compatriots will live here not forever. There are all necessary conditions in the settlement; about 700 new, beautiful houses have been built here. There is a beautiful school, a dispensary, a community center here, in one word, all conditions have been created here to live. It is not the first such settlement, it is already the 17th. I am very glad that the majority of population of Aghdam have settled and live in the territory of their own district. I am sure that on the account of conditions to be created here much more people will return to their own district. At present construction and improvement works are being conducted in the district. A big gasification program is being executed, infrastructures are being created. Today I visited the district hospital of Aghdam. In my previous visits we celebrated the opening of the Olympic Complex, the stadium. That is, we want that the most modern conditions be created in the territory of Aghdam. The Azerbaijani government does a lot for improving the living conditions of refugees and internally displaced persons, allocated big sums of finances for this purpose. We could do all this on the account of the State Oil Fund. Not only in Aghdam, but in all the regions modern settlements, multi-storey houses are being built. Yesterday I took part in the opening of ten five-storey houses in Yevlakh. That is, within two days 1 300 families have been provided with modern houses, flats. We have done such works in the previous years, too. As a result of the work performed by us about 90 000 internally displaced persons have been provided with new houses. It is already three years that there are no tent camps in Azerbaijan, we have liquidated them. We built such beautiful and comfortable houses instead of them. Our programs envisage the performance of much greater works in future. We shall create good living conditions for our citizens who still live in Finnish-type houses, in school buildings, in the territories of the military units. But I stress an idea all the time and do it today as well that all this are temporary habitations. After the liberation of the town of Aghdam, other villages, the villages which are under occupation today, we shall conduct great construction works in them. We shall rebuild Aghdam; we shall build more beautiful, more comfortable houses there. The restoration, reconstruction works conducted here in Aghdam, in the District of Fuzuli, in the town of Horadiz, which once were occupied by the Armenians and were liberated by the Azerbaijani army in 1994, show clearly that we shall mobilize all our potentials for the solution of any problem, as we did it in Horadiz, we restored it, created necessary living conditions there. We shall conduct reconstruction, restoration works in all the territories after their liberation from occupation, including Aghdam. We shall rebuild the town, because as long ago as 2005 on our initiative the estimation mission of OSCE visited the occupied territories and reflected in their report what they had seen there. The photos and video materials show that Aghdam has been completely destroyed, the town is in ruins. Recently again on our initiative the estimation mission of OSCE has visited the territories under occupation, including the town of Aghdam. The members of the mission have eyewitnessed the vandalism and brutalities committed there by the Armenians. Not a single building has remained untouched in Aghdam. All the buildings have been destroyed, pulled down. All the property in them has been plundered and taken away. Therefore, when we return to Aghdam and other regions, we shall restore our beautiful historical town. We have necessary potentials and will to do it. I hope that we shall completely restore Aghdam and our other towns after their liberation from occupation within a brief time. Our cause is just. We shall restore our territorial integrity. Our territorial integrity is recognized by the whole world. The territorial integrity of our country was recognized already when Azerbaijan gained independence, when it became the member of the United Nations. There is not a single country in the world which does not recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. It is a very important issue. Sometimes it may seem to us that the conflict is not solved though the norms of the international law support us. It is true. It worries and disappoints us very much. But the international law is the main condition for the solution of any conflict fairly and in the frames of law. The world community is living on the basis of the international law. The resolutions, decisions of the international organizations, which support us firmly, have not yet become a reality today; nevertheless, they have not lost their importance. We try to focus the attention of the world community on the conflict of Karabakh much more. That is, we want it to be on the agenda of the world community all the time, not to be erased from memories, we want the international organizations keep it on their agendas all the time. We have aimed our diplomatic and political efforts at it and we have managed to gain it. Today the leading international organizations of the world confirm the just cause of Azerbaijan with their decisions and resolutions. The United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Council of Europe, OSCE, and the European Parliament are the leading international organizations, they reflect the position of Azerbaijan in their resolutions and rely on the international law. We shall continue our efforts for strengthening the political-legal and diplomatic foundations for the solution of the conflict. Along with it, we shall continue the successful policy pursued in Azerbaijan, increase our economic potential. It would have been impossible to build these settlements, if we had not sufficient economic potentials. At the beginning after the ceasefire we did some work on the account of foreign support, foreign donations. But after some time they ceased to arrive. There are also certain frames in the activities of the international and donor organizations. They are unable to render long-term assistance. Had we not created a strong economic potential, we would have not been able to do all this within such a short time. By doing all this work, by strengthening Azerbaijan we have managed to change the situation radically in our favor both in the process of negotiations and in the processes ongoing in the region. Today Azerbaijan is completely an independent state, which determines its own policy, and which is wholly independent from economic and political point of view. It does not depend on any country. In such a case we are able to pursue a much more flexible and independent policy. We are the creators of these realities. Armenia, which tries to pose itself as a victor today, lags behind Azerbaijan 5-10 times in all parameters. What is the meaning of this pseudo-victory?! The Armenian people live in poverty; there is not any economic perspective there. They beg for foreign donations. Had it not been for those foreign donations, foreign supports, Armenia would have been in the most miserable condition today. But Azerbaijan lives on its own account, on the account of its own resources. Unlike Armenia, the economy of Azerbaijan is developing, its military might is strengthening, and its population is growing in number. Today the army of Azerbaijan is stronger than that of Armenia for many times. We know it, but what the Armenians say, it does not matter, it is senseless. Could they occupy our territory in 1992-1993, had it not been for the foreign military support? Not, of course. We know this history well. You, the sufferers of the occupation, know well how our lands have been occupied. As a result of the unskilled, unprofessional administration of Azerbaijan and internal struggle for power in the country, on the one hand, and the foreign economic and military support to Armenia, on the hand, our lands were occupied. Could anyone have occupied the territory of Azerbaijan now? Never! Had Azerbaijan been headed by our great leader Heydar Aliyev then, its lands could have never fallen under occupation. That historical time has been lost. The anarchy, chaos, crisis, foreign interference in Azerbaijan, paralysis of the local bodies of administration, betrayal of the political power, lack of courage in the administration led to such a situation. But today the situation is quite different. Today Azerbaijan is able to solve any problem in the region. Without our consent not any serious problem in the region can find its solution. But what concerns the military potential, I have never denied it. And today I want to say openly that we shall continue our work in the sphere of army building. We have already built a professional army with a good combat ability, purchased great number of weapons and ammunition. Any time our army is able to display its ability. We do not want war, nobody wants it. But at the same time we shall never reconcile with this situation. Armenia knows and must know that our patience has also its limit. Our patience is not unlimited. But the actions of Armenia show that this country does not want peace. A country eager to live in peace will not declare that they change the name of Aghdam. First of all, it is completely senseless. No one can change the name of Aghdam. The present towns of Armenia bore Azerbaijani names in the past. Then their names were changed, Armenianized. Beginning with Irevan till the lake of Goycha, Zangazur, Jalaloghlu the names of all these towns are connected with the Azerbaijani people. The Armenians were moved to the territory where we lived, we know it well. Then the regions where they settled became Armenianized, and today they want to change the name of Aghdam. I want to say once more that the party eager to have peace will never be engaged in such dirty things. Besides, this is completely senseless. Once they attempted to change the names of Lachin, Kalbajar. Who recognized them? Nobody did except them. They even themselves do not call Lachin, Kalbajar by these invented names. In the process of negotiations these invented names are not used. In the discussed documents, in the documents discussed by the Armenians the districts of Lachin and Kalbajar are called by their Azerbaijani names. Simply, these dirty actions display the vile traits of the Armenians once more. It shows that they do not want to live and to have normal relations with their neighbors in the Southern Caucasus. They want to continue their policy of occupation and to keep the present situation. But they must ask themselves whether they are capable to do that, whether they are strong enough to do it. No, they are not! Now Azerbaijan is not the Azerbaijan in the beginning of the 1990s, neither from the point of view of strength, nor from the point of view of will. I am completely sure that we shall restore our territorial integrity, return our compatriots to their native, ancestral lands. A new life will begin in those lands, the towns will be restored. Those regions, the lands which are under occupation today will flourish like other regions of our country. I am sure in it, I do not doubt it, and we all must strive for it with our efforts and hard labor to make that day close. But at the moment we are engaged in improving the living conditions of the people who live the life of the internally displaced persons, we shall manage to do it. This settlement is the result of that policy, its sign. I greet you cordially once more. I am very much pleased to be in my native land of NagornoKarabakh, I wish you good health and happiness.” The President Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva once more congratulated the residents of the settlement and were photographed with them for remembrance.