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Karabakh
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Karabakh / Return

Return

Since 2020 Karabakh is being rebuilt and resettled anew — one of the largest construction efforts in the country’s history.

A new chapter

The land they came back to

In the autumn of 2020 the 44-day war and the trilateral statement of 10 November changed Karabakh’s fate: Azerbaijan restored control over a significant part of the region, and by 2023 over all of it. After decades of division, the return began.

The state announced the “Great Return” programme — a plan to rebuild towns and villages and to bring back hundreds of thousands of people to lands they or their parents left decades ago.

How it is revived

Karabakh anew

01

The Great Return

A state programme for the return of residents and the rebuilding of the liberated territories.

02

Demining

Vast areas are mined; clearing them is slow, dangerous, multi-year work that must precede construction.

03

Airports

International airports in Fuzuli and Zangilan and an airport in Lachin have been built — the sky of Karabakh is open again.

04

“Smart villages”

New settlements are built on principles of energy efficiency and modern infrastructure.

05

Shusha — capital of culture

Shusha has been declared the cultural capital; festivals have returned, including the “Kharybulbul”.

06

Roads

New highways and railways are being laid, linking Karabakh with the rest of the country.

Скачки карабахских скакунов на Джыдыр-дюзюJidir Plain again

Life returns

Festivities on native soil

On the Jidir Plain, races of Karabakh horses and folk festivities are held once more. What was impossible for decades has become part of life again.

The “Kharybulbul” music festival in Shusha, mugham concerts, the return of families — all are signs that Karabakh is coming alive not only in stone but in people.

Timeline

Steps of return

2020
The 44-day war and the trilateral statement of 10 November; the liberation of Shusha, Fuzuli, Jabrayil and other districts.
2021
Shusha is declared cultural capital; the airport in Fuzuli opens; the “Great Return” begins.
2022–2023
Airports open in Zangilan and Lachin; the first “smart villages” are settled; reconstruction gathers pace.
2024 →
The return of residents continues; Karabakh gradually becomes a lived-in, living region again.
“Return is not only homes and roads. It is music sounding again where it was born.”jnews.az