First soldier returns to liberated Shushakand after military service

Life is gradually returning to its normal rhythm in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories under the Great Return program. Reconstruction and restoration efforts continue at full speed across Garabagh and neighbouring districts, which were under Armenian occupation for more than 30 years and suffered extensive destruction during that period.

However, the revival of these territories goes beyond reconstruction. Social life is returning as well, with weddings, birthday celebrations, betrothals, and other gatherings taking place. Internally displaced persons (IDPs), who were forcibly expelled from their homes and left behind their belongings, are rebuilding their lives in their native villages and beginning to heal the wounds of war.

Recently, the village of Shushakand, which was invaded in 1992 and liberated in 2020 by the Azerbaijani Army, held a ceremony to welcome its first returning soldier, Famil Huseynov, after he completed his military service. Conscripted from the Aghjabadi district, Huseynov was greeted with emotional scenes as villagers gathered to celebrate his homecoming.

Adding a historical resonance to the occasion, Famil’s father, Kamal Huseynov, had returned to the same village exactly 38 years earlier after completing his own military service. Famil Huseynov’s return symbolises not only a personal milestone for his family but also a hopeful step toward the future of Shushakand, marking the village’s renewal and the resilience of its community.