Aghdara, March 18, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the inauguration ceremony of a residential complex built in the village of Sugovushan, Aghdara district on March 18 and presented the keys to villagers who moved into the new apartments.

The head of state and the First Lady were informed about the completed project. A total of 180 families (591 people) were registered for relocation to the village. The complex, built on a 2.3-hectare area, consists of five 5-story residential buildings. These buildings contain a total of 190 apartments, including one, two, three, and four-room units.

The head of state and the First Lady were also informed about renovations in the area, including repairs to the secondary school building, which accommodates 144 students. Moreover, two small hydroelectric power stations, " Sugovushan-1" and " Sugovushan-2," with a combined capacity of 7.8 megawatts, have been put into operation. In Sugovushan, a "recreation complex project" was completed. The complex, covering an area of 6 hectares, includes 16 cottages and a two-story hotel building, all of which underwent significant refurbishment.

The head of state engaged in conversation with the residents.

President Ilham Aliyev: Hello.

Residents: Hello, you are welcome!

President Ilham Aliyev: Hello, nice to see you!

Residents: It is nice to see you! You are welcome! Welcome, Mr. President.

President Ilham Aliyev: Happy holidays! Thank you!

Residents: Welcome, Mr. President.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you, thank you very much. You are also welcome!

Residents: Thank you for visiting us, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva.

President Ilham Aliyev: First of all, I congratulate you on the holidays.

Residents: Thank you very much.

President Ilham Aliyev: Today is the Last Tuesday. I lit a bonfire in the village of Hasanriz and congratulate you on the upcoming Novruz holidays!

Residents: We congratulate you too!

President Ilham Aliyev: I remember that lighting the Novruz bonfire in Sugovushan village in 2022 and giving instructions to create conditions for the relocation of people here. These houses have been built – your very beautiful houses. They were built from scratch and have all the amenities. I am glad that the first residents have already moved in and will live here comfortably.

Residents: Thank you very much!

President Ilham Aliyev: All living conditions are available here. The houses are beautiful, spacious and bright. Nature, of course, also adds value to this region. Living next to this beautiful reservoir, of course, is very pleasant. Therefore, there are all the opportunities for a good, comfortable life and work here, and I am glad that former IDPs are now also moving to the Sugovushan village.

This village was liberated from the invaders in the first week of the Second Karabakh War. This was one of our first major successes, one of our great military victories. As you know, for 44 days, our Army, all our Armed Forces were only moving forward, and the liberation of each village, each settlement gave more inspiration to our Army and our entire people. Moreover, the liberation of a large village from the invaders was of particular importance. Sugovushan was the first village to be liberated from the occupiers. The importance of this village is not limited to that alone. Because, as you know, it has tremendous strategic importance. Illegal armed formations and personnel of the Armenian army were stationed in all positions around this village and around the reservoir. From a military point of view, liberating this village from the invaders required both true heroism and self-sacrifice. Our servicemen fulfilled this honorable mission by sacrificing their lives and placing themselves in the line of fire. May God rest the souls of all our martyrs in peace.

Residents: May God rest the souls of all our martyrs in peace.

President Ilham Aliyev: Their dear memory will live in our hearts forever. May God grant health to all our heroes. We always appreciate our servicemen who fought for the Motherland and showed heroism. We regained our lands and expelled the invaders from our lands thanks to the heroism and courage of the younger generation.

Of course, it was a long process. First of all, the state-building process had to go on, a strong state was built. As a result, Azerbaijan today is one of a handful of countries that can pursue an independent policy. We had to embark on a path of economic development, of course. Because no one was helping us. Today, no one is helping us and there is no need for that. Therefore, proceeding from our own strength, we had to create economic opportunities so that we could have financial opportunities. We had to create a strong Army, and we did that. We had to equip our army, and we did that. Work was routinely carried out to build up the combat capability of our army. Of course, the upbringing of the younger generation. We have raised a young generation that is patriotic, loyal to the state and its people. After 30 years, they fulfilled their historic mission with dignity and showed great heroism both during the Second Karabakh War and during the anti-terror operation. You are probably aware that our successful operations are now studied in many foreign universities. Wars and bloody confrontations are becoming quite widespread in the world these days. Now, in the era of the Internet, in the era of freedom of information, everyone knows, can see and follow everything. We can see that not all countries are able to secure their interests, their just interests. Some are fighting for their territorial integrity but cannot achieve any results, or achieve some small-scale military success but cannot achieve a complete victory. In other words, if we simply look at the clashes, conflicts, and wars taking place in the world today, if we look at the wars of recent history, I can say that no one has won a victory as unambiguous and complete as Azerbaijan did after the Second World War. Some conflicts remained unfinished, some remained incomplete, wars have modified into other forms without changing their essence, and took on other forms. Our Victory is complete, and this shows both the strength of our state, our Armed Forces, and the resolve of our people. You, the people who lived in this region and their successors, know perfectly well that the enemy had built such strong fortifications during the occupation that breaking them required both heroism and professionalism. Many were even convinced that we would never be able to break through those defense lines. Because the natural terrain was on the side of the enemy, the engineering fortifications they had built over the years played into their hands. External forces, foreign countries were behind them – first of all, the OSCE Minsk Group, which supposedly received a mandate to deal with this issue. Their main goal was to make this conflict eternal, to make the occupation of our lands perpetual, to pull wool over our eyes, to deceive us, and to make us accept that reality through endless negotiations. This was the goal of all three of them, and all three of them were united around one cause. However, the current relations between these countries show that this was a very rare situation. So what did that show? That all three of them were behind Armenia, all three of them supported Armenia in various ways. One was providing weapons, one was providing political support, and one was providing economic privileges. We fought against this, we fought against exactly this. When the Second Karabakh War began, it was not known how anyone would act. I mean the great powers. In such a difficult political environment, in such a difficult natural terrain, in such heavily fortified areas, to crush the enemy in a matter of 44 days shows the strength of our people. But even then we knew, and I am sure that you knew it too, the entire nation knew that this was not the end of our work, so to speak. Because for certain reasons, the separatists had still maintained their nests in our lands, peacekeeping forces had been brought to our region, and this, as they say, gave separatists additional courage. They also believed that in such a situation their separatism could be continued. Various other events also occurred. However, they could not calculate one thing, and that was the resolve, determination, courage and self-confidence of the Azerbaijani people and state. They could not calculate this. A year and a half ago, a one-day anti-terror operation eradicated separatism, the matter was over and their book was closed. Today we are celebrating this beautiful holiday here. I congratulate you! Live happily here. You deserve it. You experienced suffering for many years, but that suffering has now been consigned to history. I congratulate you!

Residents: Thank you very much. You have brought us to our dream. May you also achieve yours! May God protect your children!

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Let's present the keys now.

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A key handover ceremony was then held.

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Commemorative photos were taken.