Joint hearings of two more Milli Majlis committees – this time, the Committee for Public Associations and Religious Entities and the Human Rights Committee – have taken place in Shusha on 27 April.

First, there was a minute of silence in memory of the heroes fallen for the freedom of the lands of Azerbaijan.

Next, Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and head of the former committee Fazail Ibrahimli informed the hearings’ participants of the three topics put on the agenda, which was then approved duly. So Mr Ibrahimli presented the first topic – The Measures to Restore the Religious Monuments in the De-Occupied Territories.

The significance of the subject was mentioned; it was said that the glorious victory won in the 44 days’ Patriotic War under the guidance of President, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev was the largest triumph of the past two centuries of our statehood history – a logical consequence of the policy and wise administration based on the national interest and universal human values.

Never before has Azerbaijan been so strong and so independent, according to Fazail Ibrahimli. The valiant Azerbaijani Army led by the firm will and reinforced with the tireless labours of President, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev delivered our lands from the captivity that had spanned long years. Reunited with its nation, Shusha is now hosting remarkable events, such as, for example, the World Azerbaijani’s Congress and the events of the Milli Majlis. This is of formidable political, moral, social and legal importance, according to the Vice Speaker.

Bahrouz Maharramov of the Human Rights Committee introduced the next topic, which was The Great Return and Integration: the Place and the Role of the International Law and Humanitarian Institutions in Promoting the Land and Property Rights of the Internally Displaced Persons. President Ilham Aliyev having declared 2022 the Year of Shusha in our country was the triumph of the international law, in the opinion of MP Maharramov who proceeded to discuss that decision’s legal, regional and humanitarian reverberations – the international ones as well as those felt in the national context.

The law-maker described as a breach of the international law the aggressive policy of Armenia as well as that Armenia had put beyond whatever normal use every means of residence and livelihood and the whole infrastructure of the formerly-occupied territories and the utter destruction by Armenia of the agrarian, industrial and other established production sectors and, of course, the whole property in private possession.

The work now afoot under the control of President Ilham Aliyev in the lands rid of the invaders serves the goal of ensuring a safe return of the former IDP to those areas, according to MP Maharramov.

Hikmat Mammadov of the Human Rights Committee talked about the third topic, it being The Year of Shusha as an Extension of the Garabagh Victory: the Outcomes within the International Law, Regional and Humanitarian Contexts. MP Mammadov told of the political and legal grounds for the declaration by President Ilham Aliyev of the current year The Year of Shusha. He commented on that decision of the Head of State from the viewpoint of the post-war realia as well as through the prism of the military-political and geostrategic changes in the region and in the world. Azerbaijan is set on a political course that is adequate to the cardinal changes in the world in the 21^st century. This kind of policy is up to both regional and global challenges. Then, MP Mammadov also voiced his ideas about the influence on the world order of the new realia resulting from Azerbaijan’s victory in the 44-day Patriotic War.

The presentations were followed by the speech of the chairman of the Human Rights Committee Zahid Oruj who cast a glance, so to speak, over the thirty-year-long path that has led us to today. He commented on the agenda items by saying that the topics of the hearings of the committees made up the Shusha Agenda. MP Oruj talked about the place and significance of this town in the national public and political life and about the travels of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to the liberated lands and to Shusha especially. The Shusha rostrum influences the agendas of Azerbaijan and the whole region alike, to MP Oruj’s mind.

Turning then to the grave and bitter consequences of the Armenian occupation of the Azerbaijani lands of these past thirty years and the scale of those consequences, the committee head spoke his mind about the comeback of almost one million internally displaced people to their native parts, accelerating the Great Return yet more, backing regional trading and economic projects and fostering business enterprising.

Comments on the hearings’ subjects also came from the deputy chairman of the Public Associations and Religious Entities Committee Sahib Aliyev, the deputy chairman of the Human Rights Committee Tahir Karimli and the MPs Anar Isgandarov, Jala Ahmadova, Javanshir Pashazade, Razi Nurullayev, Elman Nasirov, Jeyhun Mammadov, Azer Badamov, Malik Hasanov, Elshad Mirbashir oglu and Naghif Hamzayev. They talked about the geostrategic position in the South Caucasus occupied by Shusha historically and about the role of the town in the public, political, cultural and statehood aspects of life in Azerbaijan.

The MPs said that the victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, that brilliant and unforgettable page in our history, had stemmed from the far-sighted and pragmatic policy of the President and the unity between the nation and the Army having furled them in that iron fist around the Commander-in-Chief.

The law-makers mentioned the destruction of all the religious worshipping locations and monuments of history of our nation during the enemy occupation period. The invaders’ vandalism had dealt the cultural history of the outstanding nation a heavy blow.

Vice Speaker Fazail Ibrahimli remarked as he was summarising and concluding the hearings that Shusha had historically, always, been the centre of our moral world, culture and statehood – as well as a symbol of heroism. Shusha has always stood up to foes and discouraged occupiers. Restoration work is in progress in the de-occupied Azerbaijani lands now so that every amenity and every arrangement is in place for the people who are to go back to those provinces. The State Budget has substantial funds set aside towards the costs of the large-scale rebuilding and building work in the already-freed territories of our country.

That was the end of the joint hearings of the Milli Majlis committees for public associations and religious entities, and for human rights.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis