Lachin - 27 years under Armenian occupation

By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

May 18 marks the 27th anniversary of the occupation of Lachin region, beautiful and essential part of Azerbaijan, by Armenian armed forces.

On this day, in 1992, the Armenian invaders managed to seize the Lachin regional center and the pass where the only road connecting Lachin region with Armenia lies. Then the Armenian troops launched an offensive throughout the area.

As a result of the Armenian attack, more than 300 Azerbaijani military men and civilians were killed or went missing; 103 people were wounded or disabled. Armenian invaders did not spare even children – 18 Azerbaijani children were killed, 225 were injured and 31 lost both of their parents.

These figures are not just dry statistics of losses, but an incurable wound inflicted on the Azerbaijani people as a result of the Armenian aggression, a wound that bleeds on Azerbaijan’s body.

If before the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the population of Lachin region was 258,229 people in 1988 and 90 percent of them were Azerbaijanis, by the time of the region occupation there were only 63,000 people, who after may 17-18, 1992, were also forced to leave their homelands.

As a result of the occupation of Lachin region, 122 villages were destroyed and dozens of industrial facilities were demolished.

As many as 8,950 buildings, 7 industrial and construction enterprises, 471 service facilities, 154 schools and many cultural and historical monuments of Lachin remain under occupation until today.

The material damage caused to the area during the occupation exceeds $7 billion.

The region was rich in minerals, construction materials, gold, mountain crystal, silk, granite, mercury, limestone, harsh stone, traver­tine, mineral water, and healing herbs. There were rare mahogany trees, cobalt, uranium, iron, and marble of different colors.

As many as 34,877 hectares of Lachin’s territory were covered with rare mahogany trees included in the Red Book. However, Armenians plundered all these natural resources of the region after the invasion.

Today, Armenia is trying to settle the occupied regions of Azerbaijan, however, the newly settled Armenians are trying in every way to leave the illegally occupied lands, apparently knowing full well that the return of these territories to Azerbaijan is inevitable.

Lachin, just like other Azerbaijani lands under occupation, is waiting for its liberator in the person of the Azerbaijani people, who will stop at nothing to restore justice and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.