On December 26, the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs held a commemoration event on the 27th anniversary of the occupation of Khankendi by Armenian armed forces. The chairman, deputy chairmen, heads of divisions and departments of the State Committee, Karabakh war veterans and intelligentsia orginally from Khankendi attended the event. Our martyrs who died for the freedom and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan were commemorated with a minute of silence. Speaking about the history of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Chairman of the State Committee Rovshan Rzayev reminded that Armenians were relocated to these territories approximately two hundred years ago, they treated indigenous people of Azerbaijan belligerently with the support of their protectors, always created a confrontation on the national ground and occasionally raised territorial claims. It was noted that attempts of Armenian nationalists to separate Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan and join it to Armenia in the 60-70s of the last century were collapsed as a result of the determination of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, and those with the same intentions were immediately punished in accordance with the laws of that time. Armenian separatism in Nagorno-Karabakh arose right after the great person of our nation was expelled from the political power. Ethnic cleansing against the people of Khankendi, the central city of the region, actually started in 1989. The Azerbaijanis living and working here were persecuted and forced to leave their homes. From December 26 to December 28 of 1991, ethnic cleansing and occupation were carried out with special cruelty, since that time Khankendi was completely occupied by separatists and armed forces from Armenia. IDPs from Khankendi struggled a lot as all our compatriots who were displaced from their historical lands in Nagorno-Karabakh. At present, they are settled in 38 cities and regions of our republic and covered by the attention and care of the Azerbaijani government. The President Ilham Aliyev identified the solution of social problems and improvement of housing and living conditions of IDPs as a priority. A settlement opened in Sumgait a few days ago will allow improving the housing and living conditions of 1000 families of this category, thus, the number of IDPs provided with new houses and apartments by now will reach 300 thousand. The Head of State said that important measures will be taken in this field in the new year as well. The First Vice President Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva gave instruction on accelerating the work related with the IDPs living in the most severe conditions and in damaged buildings in Baku and Sumgait and she keeps the implementation of it under control. Flora Gasimova, the MP, who was elected to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan from Khankendi election constituency No.122, the spouse of the National Hero Shirin Mirzayev, made a speech at the commemoration event. She noted that during the ethnic cleansing and occupation, 100 people from Khankendi died and the people left their homeland. Stating that the people live in better conditions compared to the 90s of the last century, the MP said that the only thing they want now is the liberation of Khankendi from the occupation. It was noted that the victory of our army during the April battles strengthened the confidence of the people. We believe that the flag of Azerbaijan will waive in Khankendi again. The commemoration event continued with speeches. At the end, a film dedicated to Khankendi was shown.