Azerbaijan, Pakistan eye prospects of cooperation to restore liberated lands

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Director-General of Pakistan's Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) military engineering company Kamal Azfar have discussed prospects of cooperation to restore Azerbaijani lands liberated from Armenian occupation.

Bayramov met Azfar as part of his official visit to Islamabad on January 13. 

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov spoke about the current regional situation and said that after the 44-day Patriotic War, Azerbaijan entered the post-conflict recovery and rehabilitation phase. He informed Azfar about the current work being implemented in the region, including demining and infrastructure projects. The minister noted that Azerbaijan is ready to work with the interested partner countries and international organizations in the restoration and construction work.

Azfar briefed Bayramov about the organization's activities in detail, including the construction of bridges, roads, tunnels, as well as telecommunication lines, etc. in Pakistan in the past 45 years and the activities in the field of infrastructure services development. 

Azerbaijan is interested in the active inflow of foreign direct investments and foreign companies from friendly countries in the country to get its liberated territories restored. Significant growth in the performance of the construction sector is expected in Azerbaijan in 2021 as internally displaced persons are to move to liberated territories after they are demined and restored.

As a result of Armenian vandalism, hundreds of cultural institutions, including 927 libraries with 4.6 million books, 808 palaces of culture, clubs and other cultural institutions, 85 music and art schools were destroyed on the occupied Azerbaijani territories. 

Nearly 22 museums and museum branches, four art galleries, four theatres, two concert halls, eight parks of culture and recreation, were subjected to the Armenian vandalism. 

Over 700 historical and cultural monuments registered by the state before the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were looted, including the 11 and 15-span Khudaferin bridges in Jabrayil, Ganjasar and Khudavend sanctuaries in Kalbajar, the mausoleum in Aghdam's Khachin Turbetli village, Azykh cave in Fuzuli as well as Shusha state historical and architectural reserve.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10 brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.