Today.Az » Politics » Agdere, 24 years under occupation
07 July 2017 [09:00] - Today.Az


By Azernews


By Rashid Shirinov

July 7 marks the 24th anniversary of the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Agdere region by Armenian armed forces.

Armenian militaries invaded Agdere during the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Located in the north of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, Agdere was always a high priority for Armenian occupants. Although Azerbaijani troops liberated the region from the Armenian invaders on July 4, 1992, Armenian forces re-occupied it again on July 7, 1993 due to hard political situation in Azerbaijan.

Today, Azerbaijan controls several villages of Agdere, but most part of it, including Agdere city, still suffer from the Armenian occupation.

Agdere was an important agricultural region of Azerbaijan. The economy was dominated by the viticulture, grain-growing, tobacco cultivation and cattle breeding. Mostly mountainous Agdere, which also has lowland areas in east, is covered with forests by 44 percent. The main rivers of Agdere are Tartar and Khachinchay.

The region is rich in mineral resources, such as polymetallic ores, limestone and gypsum. The Mehmana polymetallic deposit in Agdere contains a lot of limestone and plaster reserves. Moreover, coal deposits were found in the region in the late 1980s.

Like other regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, Agdere also was home to many historical monuments. Among the well-known architectural monuments of the region are the Albanian temple Ganjasar in the Vangli village, Urek temple (12th century), Hatam Malik tower near the Talysh village, Holy Iako temple in the Kolatag village (year 635), the temple at upper flow of the Tartar river (13th century), and many other ancient temples, bridges and other monuments.

Before the occupation, two districts, 57 villages, 67 clubs, 51 libraries, 30 secondary schools, seven hospitals and a professional lyceum were located in the Agdere region, having an area of 1,705 square kilometers. Unfortunately, all of them were destroyed by the Armenian occupants after invasion of Agdere.

Demographic data say that over 14,000 Azerbaijanis were living in the region before its occupation by Armenia. Regrettably, now all of them are internally displaced persons, who had to leave their native homes in Agdere and move to other regions of Azerbaijan due to the Armenian aggression.

Due to Armenia-triggered Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, 20 percent of Azerbaijani internationally recognized territory still remains under occupation. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed during the war and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Although the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions on withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, aggressor Armenia illegally remains in those lands. Today, when Azerbaijan does its utmost to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia does the opposite – the aggressor makes everything to preserve the unacceptable status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, Azerbaijani internally displaced persons from Agdere, as well as from every other occupied region of the country, believe that the day will come when all of them will return to their native lands.



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