Azerbaijan fully demines Zangilan airport’s runway

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Head of the Coordination Headquarters Samir Nuriyev has said that Zangilan Airport’s runway has been completely demined and the construction in the area is underway, Azertag has reported.

Nuriyev made the remarks at a regular meeting of the Coordination Headquarters for the centralized settlement of issues on Azerbaijan’s liberated territories that was held on November 30.

He noted that the restoration and reconstruction carried out in the liberated lands are accompanied by continuous demining activities. About 20,000 hectares in the region had been cleared of mines over the past year.

Nuriyev stressed that plans had been prepared to determine the location of Lachin Airport, and a foundation is being set up to begin the construction.

He stressed that Fuzuli International Airport, which was commissioned on October 26, 2021, was one of the fastest implemented infrastructure projects in the world.

Nuriyev underlined that Azerbaijan both politically and economically focused on the full revival of its liberated territories and the work done over the past period is a vivid example of this.

He emphasized the importance of further restoration and reconstruction of the region, increasing the scale and speed of measures taken to ensure a speedy return, strengthening inter-agency coordination and cooperation.

Furthermore, the participants of the meeting provided details about the work done over the past year.

It was noted that the preparation of the region’s general plan is in the final stage, the master plans for Shusha, Agdam, Fuzuli and Jabrayil have already been prepared and submitted. The preparation of master plans for other cities is underway and the foundations of residential buildings in Shusha, Agdam, Fuzuli and Jabrayil regions have already been laid.

Specific steps have been taken to establish industrial zones, production facilities, as well as to attract investment to the region. The foundation of the Aghdam Industrial Park and the Araz Valley Economic Zone Industrial Park has been laid, and relevant work has been done with entrepreneurs and government agencies to attract potential investors.

Thousands of hectares have already been prepared for agricultural purposes and crop production, livestock and beekeeping have been identified as priority areas for the development.

The construction of the Victory Road, which was founded on November 16 last year, was successfully completed and opened on November 7, 2021. Moreover, work on the construction of more than 1,400 kilometers of roads, as well as telecommunications networks on the liberated territories is underway.

During the meeting, information was provided about the installation of the necessary equipment, reconstruction of substation power lines in the region over the past year.

It was noted that the construction of substations in Shusha, Fuzuli, Kalbajar, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Gubadli was completed and put into operation in a short time. The restoration and strengthening work is underway at other energy infrastructure facilities. Also, a concept for the implementation of the Green Energy zone on the liberated territories has been developed.

Over the past period, significant work has been done to restore cultural monuments and reconstruct tourism infrastructure on the liberated territories. The historical and cultural monuments have been systematically inspected and registered.

The Kharibulbul and Garabagh hotels were put into operation in Shusha and busts of poetess Natavan, composer Uzeyir Hajibayli and vocalist Bulbul were returned to the city. The mausoleum, bust of the famous poet and statesman Molla Panah Vagif, as well as, the Natavan spring, Bulbul's house-museum, the Yukhari Govhar Agha mosque were restored in a short time. The reconstruction of the Ashagi Govhar Agha and Saatli mosques, Gen Samadbay Mehmandarov's house is underway. New Victory Museums and memorial complexes have been laid in a number of cities.

The activities were carried out to eliminate Armenian-inflicted damage on Azerbaijan's nature, environment and natural resources during the 30-year occupation and measures were taken to restore and protect the region's natural ecosystem, biodiversity and to increase green energy space.

It was also stressed that the restoration of the Basitchay State Nature Reserve in Zangilan region is underway.

The next steps regarding the implementation of the tasks ahead were identified and relevant instructions were given during the meeting.