A new residential complex for 306 IDP families has been inaugurated in Pirallahi district, Baku.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony.

Chairman of the State Committee for Refugee and IDP Affairs Rovshan Rzayev informed the head of state of the work done.

The construction of the complex started last year.

Three nine-storey buildings were constructed under the project, two of which have 72, and one has 162 apartments. This is the 104th state-of-the-art residential complex built for internally displaced persons.

President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva viewed conditions created in the apartments. The building has 37 one-room, 107 two-room, 126 three-room, and 36 four-room apartments.

President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva then familiarized themselves with the conditions created at Bozlu secondary school of Lachin district. All necessary conditions were created in the 220-seat school.

The head of state and first lady then met with the IDPs.

Greeting the internally displaced persons, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- It is a very significant day today. Beautiful houses for displaced persons are being commissioned in Pirallahi district. I cordially congratulate you on this occasion. This is a remarkable event. The buildings have been constructed with good quality. The IDPs who lived in unsuitable buildings before will now move to these houses. This once again shows that the state shows great attention and care for the internally displaced persons.

A lot has been done both in Baku and in all our regions in recent years. The domestic problems of internally displaced persons are being successfully addressed. This is further manifested by the commissioning today of these buildings for IDPs living in Pirallahi district. There are great apartments, there is a school – all this once again shows that the state is taking serious measures in relation to this issue.

New apartments and individual houses will be built for more than 6,000 IDP families this year. There are excellent conditions for 306 families here. I sincerely congratulate you on this occasion again.

Residents: Thank you very much, Mr. President.

President Ilham Aliyev: In general, Pirallahi district is developing successfully. Infrastructure facilities and buildings are being constructed and refurbished. In other words, the island of Pirallahi has acquired a completely new appearance. The creative work under way here for several years is producing excellent results. You are well aware that the situation in Pirallahi was not very pleasant before, but all the necessary conditions have now been created here.

IDP from Lachin district Sevda Musayeva said: Dear Mr. President, dear Mrs. Aliyeva. Please allow me to greet you on behalf of the residents of Pirallahi. I already consider myself to be a resident of Pirallahi, as we have lived here for 27 years. On behalf of IDPs and education workers, I want to express our deep appreciation to you. I am expressing our gratitude and appreciation for such attention and care for refugees and IDPs. As an education worker myself, I approve and support both foreign and domestic policies you are pursuing to ensure development and progress of Azerbaijan and turn it into a powerful state in the world community. I am an education worker, so I will talk about this area. As you know, science and education are the key areas for the development of Azerbaijan and indeed any other country. This is undeniable. Our national leader Heydar Aliyev always appreciated teachers, the spheres of education and science. We feel and see that you are continuing this policy.

Sevda Musayeva expressed her gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva for all the work done, for the attention shown to them, for the construction of new schools for IDP families and for their provision with modern equipment.

She said: Also, Mrs. Aliyeva, I want to congratulate you. You are a mother, and so am I. I congratulate you. Your son has honorably fulfilled his duty to the Motherland and returned home. Congratulations!

Mehriban Aliyeva: Thank you very much. May Allah protect all children.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much. Thank you!

Today we are creating these conditions for the displaced persons. There are still IDPs living in difficult conditions, and their problems are on the agenda. Currently, large-scale work is being carried out so that all our IDPs are provided with good conditions soon. As a result of the aggressive policy pursued by Armenia against Azerbaijan, our lands were occupied in the early 1990s. Our main goal is to restore our territorial integrity. Work is under way in this direction – both in the political and diplomatic sphere and in the field of army building.

In order to improve the living conditions of internally displaced persons and expand employment opportunities for them, a state program has been adopted. Houses and settlements are built on the basis of this program. More than a hundred settlements have been built, and work in this direction will be continued. As I have already mentioned, at least 6,000 families will be provided with new apartments this year. Next year we plan to build even more new houses.

Mehriban Aliyeva: Congratulations again!

Then IDP from Lachin District Kamala Musayeva, said: Dear Mr. President, dear Mrs. Aliyeva. You are welcome! We are very happy to see you in Pirallahi district again. Thanks to your successful and focused policy, our republic, our native Azerbaijan is renewing with every passing day. We are following the path of accelerated and dynamic development. We are very grateful to you, dear Mr. President and dear Mrs. Aliyeva, as you always show attention and care for the internally displaced persons. Dear Mrs. Aliyeva, we remember very well that you dedicated the first meeting after being appointed as First Vice-President to the social problems of refugees and internally displaced persons. Thanks to your good and noble deeds, you are a chosen person for our people, for our homeland. We are very grateful to you for this.

Mehriban Aliyeva: Thank you very much, I am very grateful.

Kamala Musayeva: Dear Mr. President, dear Mrs. Aliyeva, the attention you are paying to Pirallahi district we are based in is quite obvious. Despite the fact that it was established only recently, the appearance of Pirallahi district is improving every day, every year. Pirallahi is becoming nicer with every passing day. New factories have been opened here in a very short time. A syringe factory has been opened, a pharmaceutical factory is under construction. New parks are being created. Such a beautiful settlement has been built for displaced persons. Social housing is being built for residents of Pirallahi district. We are very grateful to you for all this.

Noting that she worked at United City Hospital No 10, Kamala Musayeva also pointed to healthcare reforms under way. Expressing her gratitude to the head of state and his wife on behalf of the residents of Pirallakhi district, internally displaced persons and health workers, Kamala Musayeva said that they believed in returning to their native lands under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much, thank you. I appreciate your kind words.

Things in Pirallahi district are going fast indeed. Creative work has gained momentum. Measures are also being taken in the area of job creation. As you have mentioned, a syringe factory was commissioned some time ago. The construction of another large pharmaceutical factory is under way. This factory is also expected to create jobs. IDPs have been living here in Pirallahi district for many years. Most of them are from Lachin District. Lachin District was occupied in May 1992. The occupation of Lachin and Kalbajar districts created a communication link between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Thanks to great leader Heydar Aliyev, major effort was made to thwart Armenia’s occupying policy. A successful Horadiz operation was carried out. Thus, Azerbaijan managed to liberate a part of the occupied lands.

In the subsequent period, tremendous work was carried out on army building. As a result of this work, another part of our lands was liberated from occupiers in 2016. Restoration of territorial integrity is the key issue for us.

Then internally displaced person from Lachin District Jabrayil Heydarov said: Dear Mr. President, dear Mrs. Aliyeva. We are very glad to see you in Pirallahi district. You are welcome!.

We, ordinary people, are always happy to see you. Every visit of yours awakens a desire to create in us, ordinary citizens. As an internally displaced person from Lachin living in Pirallahi district, I want to note that Pirallahi district is flourishing and developing with every passing day. As a result of the reforms carried out under your leadership, a great deal of creative and improvement work has been carried out in Pirallahi district. All infrastructure projects have been implemented. I do business in Pirallahi district. Mr. President, when we embarked on entrepreneurial activities, we had only two employees. Now we have about 50 employees. We try to serve our people and state with our work. Thanks to your support, in particular the decrees and orders issued in recent years, the attention and care for entrepreneurs, we are doing business in Pirallahi district without any obstacles and in a completely free manner. I am saying this quite sincerely. Good conditions have been created for us in the district. Our main goal is to reduce the country's dependence on imports, create new jobs and improve people’s living conditions. As a result of the work carried out in our district, new jobs have been created, there is a favorable business environment, the social and economic status of the population has improved, and this has had a positive impact on our work.

Mr. President, the majority of the internally displaced people living in Pirallahi district come from Lachin District. In this district there are 286 families and a total of 1,104 people. 110 of 286 families come from Lachin District.

Jabrayil Heydarov said that they, too, were doing everything possible for the development of the country and state, and their biggest dream was the liberation of lands and a continuation of entrepreneurial activities on native lands. Reaffirming support for both domestic and foreign policy of President Ilham Aliyev, Jabrayil Heydarov stressed that the head of state communicated Azerbaijan’s voice of justice from the highest platforms of the world in the name of liberating the occupied lands.

He said: In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to you on behalf of the internally displaced persons in Pirralahi, and on behalf of our family. We always and will continue to support you. May Allah bless you, Mr. President.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much, thank you! Very serious steps have been taken to develop entrepreneurship. I believe that our achievements in this direction are very encouraging. There is a strong class of entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan now. Entrepreneurs play a huge role in the diversification of our economic development. The state, for its part, is taking steps to carry out serious reforms that produce good results.

Our revenues are growing. Over the first six months of this year, our revenues increased by more than 400 million manats. We are channelling these funds primarily into social projects. As you know, a very serious social package has been approved this year. Benefits, including those intended for internally displaced persons, have been increased by 50 percent. The issue of problem loans has also been resolved. Wages and pensions have been increased. Of course, this is a direct result of the reforms because these reforms bring us additional income, and we channel them first of all into the social sphere. The social sphere will continue to remain a priority for us because the citizens of Azerbaijan must live better every year, and we will achieve this.