Azerbaijan Advances Repopulation Efforts in Liberated Jabrayil

On Monday, a new caravan of former Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) departed for the liberated Jabrayil district as part of the First Phase of the Great Return Program.

In this phase, 129 individuals from 34 families relocated to Jabrayil. The families were presented with keys to their homes on the same day.

They were briefed on the existing dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance and were advised to avoid contact with unfamiliar objects, as mine clearance is underway in the adjacent areas.

“I always wished I could return to my own land. My dreams have come true. I am so happy,” said Mahira Niftaliyeva, a former IDP who has returned to Jabrayil, adding that better days are ahead after years of separation.

The first phase of Jabrayil’s post-liberation repopulation occurred on September 26, with 117 displaced locals returning home. Another group of 123 former IDPs arrived in the reconstructed city of Jabrayil on September 30. On November 7, the city was repopulated by 150 more individuals who had been displaced during the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s.

A total of 712 people have now settled in Jabrayil following its liberation.

In October, President Ilham Aliyev attended the inauguration of a newly built 33-building residential complex in Jabrayil. These buildings include seven five-story and 26 four-story structures, offering a total of 712 apartments. The apartments consist of eight one-room units, 136 two-room units, eight studio-type two-room units, 392 three-room units, and 168 four-room units.

The six-quarter complex was constructed to high standards and includes various amenities such as social facilities, both underground and above-ground parking, recreational areas, and children’s playgrounds for entertainment and sports.

The Armenian armed forces occupied the Jabrayil district on August 23, 1993, during the First Karabakh War (1991–1994).

At the time of occupation, the district comprised one city, four settlements, and 97 villages. All were razed to the ground, with no buildings surviving the destruction and looting during the years of occupation.

During the occupation, displaced residents of Jabrayil settled in nearly 2,000 locations across 58 districts of Azerbaijan, including tent camps, cargo wagons, and dormitories.

On January 5, 1994, as part of the Horadiz operation, the village of Jojug Marjanli in the Jabrayil district was liberated. In the April 2016 clashes, the Azerbaijani Army regained control of the key Lalatapa height, fully removing Jojug Marjanli from Armenian military surveillance and frequent shelling.

On October 4, 2020, during the Patriotic War, President Ilham Aliyev announced in an address to the nation that the city of Jabrayil and nine villages in the district had been liberated from occupation.

During the Second Karabakh War, from September 27 to November 9, 2020, the Azerbaijani Army liberated the Jabrayil district. With the liberation of Jabrayil and Zangilan districts, Azerbaijan also restored state control over the Azerbaijan-Iran border. Six days after Azerbaijan’s victory, on November 16, 2020, President Aliyev visited the liberated Jabrayil district and raised the Azerbaijani flag in the city of Jabrayil and at the historic Khudafarin Bridge.

In July 2023, President Aliyev announced that October 4, the date of Jabrayil’s liberation from occupation, would officially be commemorated in Azerbaijan as the “Day of the City of Jabrayil.”