The visiting co-rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee Ian Liddell-Grainger and Liz Christoffersen have taken a trip to the town of Aghdam liberated from Armenian occupation.

The co-rapporteurs were shown both the consequences of the devastation committed by the Armenian troops in Aghdam during the occupation and the progress of the re-construction works initiated by our state after the liberation of the town. Besides, the guests were also informed of the history of Aghdam, its current condition, Armenian vandalism committed here and the minefields. It was noted that Aghdam used to be one of the biggest and most advanced towns not only in Garabagh Region but also in the whole country, with developed industrial and agricultural sectors. Its capture on 23 July 1993 led to the Armenian occupants looting, razing and burning houses, public buildings, schools, cultural institutions, nursery schools, hospitals and industrial mills in the town and in the villages of Aghdam Province. The Armenian vandalism in Aghdam did not spare the cemeteries and historical and cultural artefacts, either.

On arrival at the Friday Mosque of the town the co-rapporteurs listened to a narrative about the Armenian war crimes, their having decimated our cultural, historical and religious heritage – but also about the restoration of the shattered mosque that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation had begun following the town’s liberation.

The visitors also inspected the ruins of buildings Armenians had left behind in the town’s high street – including what remains of the Aghdam Drama Theatre. The co-rapporteurs were told in detail about the damage caused by Armenians to our cultural heritage in general and the Aghdam State Drama Theatre in particular.

Following this, the PACE co-rapporteurs gazed at the traces of Armenian barbarism in the Alley of Shahids in the town, where, they were told, the valiant sons of the nation fallen in the First Karabakh War and some of the townspeople killed in the Khojali Genocide are buried. The Armenian savages who had exterminated everything in Aghdam had also excavated and destroyed the graves in the Alley.

Reaching the Aghdam HQ of the Presidential Special Representation, the guests were told in detail of the town’s master plan construction work afoot. Known as the Caucasian Hiroshima now, Aghdam is to become one of the region’s most beautiful towns at the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan. The people who spent three decades away from home will be brought back to those parts safely.

Finally, the PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs were shown round the Aghdam Conference Centre.

The Press and Public Relations Department  

The Milli Majlis