In Nagorno-Karabakh, reconquered by Azerbaijan between 2020 and 2023, Baku is carrying out major works. Objective: to repopulate the enclave as quickly as possible, disputed between Azerbaijanis and Armenians since the 1990s. The resettlement of the first Azerbaijani families is largely staged by the authoritarian regime of Ilham Aliev.
From our special correspondent returning from Füzuli,
To get to Füzuli, in the Nagorno-Karabakhwe are accompanied by a driver, a translator and a representative of the State, it is an obligation. Azerbaijani authorities explain that this is for security reasons, as the region is still littered with antipersonnel mines. It is also a way of supervising and monitoring movements and people encountered.
Füzuli is a town that was recovered by theAzerbaijan at the end of the second Karabakh war, in November 2020. In the street, lots of small businesses that have just opened: a hairdresser, a beautician, a dentist, a gym… You can still smell the smells of paint. The streets are very quiet, you don’t come across many residents.
Two women are waiting for us at the bottom of a building, they are heading towards us, everything is very precise. One of them testifies: “ My name is Essan Aliyeva. I was torn from the town of Füzuli by the war in 1993. I was 8 years old. I am what we call an internally displaced person, I had to go and live in another city in Azerbaijan. Thirty years later, I’m finally back. My father’s house was near here, she remembers. I am so sad that he is no longer here to be able to see this. May God bless the President and grant him good health forever. May God bless all our leaders, our martyrs, our veterans. It is thanks to them that we are back here today. »
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The place of Armenians in Karabakh
Today, there are no more Armenians in Karabakh, the last ones left following the last military assault, in September 2023. Essan Aliyeva affirms that she is not sure that it will one day be possible to live together: It would be too difficult after everything we’ve been through… We’ve been through hell. We have always sought to make peace in the past. But that was not the case for the Armenians. »
The state representative intervenes: “ Let me tell you something, there are indeed Armenians in Karabakh. They now live in Khankendi. They live among themselves, they are safe, no one touches them, they don’t touch anyone, we live together in harmony. »
When RFI asks if it is possible to go meet the Armenians living in Khankendi, the representative says he does not know, nor does his colleague. Khankendi is the Azerbaijani name for Stepanakert, the former capital of the Armenian separatist enclave of Karabakh. The town is only 1 hour 15 minutes by car from Füzuli and despite multiple RFI requests, we were refused access. American experts say, according to satellite images, that Armenian traces are gradually being erased in the area.
Also readExodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh: healing the war when it no longer makes the headlines [REDIFFUSION]