Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Lachin, a mountainous pearl of Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus, has been embraced deep in fog shining grief and sorrow for almost 24 years.

Exactly twenty four years have passed from the occupation of ancient Azerbaijani region of Lachin, leaving a lot of tears, grief and suffering for Azerbaijani people. Twenty four years of expectations and promises, search and hope that, as we know, dies last ...

"For you I will sacrifice for all of my life, Lachin!...” says the famous Azerbaijan’s folk song.

A quarter of a century ago this song sounded differently for Azerbaijanis. But today it holds a different value for the Azerbaijani people, recalling the wound of the lost homeland, where once they lived happily and peacefully.

The chain of events in 1992 are one of the most difficult in the history of Azerbaijan. That May, Azerbaijanis received two big hits, losing two strategic heights in the war against Armenian occupants -- Shusha and Lachin.

The occupation of Lachin region on May 17-18, was the third fatal loss after Khojaly and Shusha, a strategically important area, which is actually prejudged the fate of the first phase of the Karabakh war.

Lachin, valued for its strategically important geo-position with wonderful and rich nature, was the only direct road from Armenia to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The occupation of Lachin, with a particular significance, dealt a serious blow to Azerbaijan's economy. The losses incurred are estimated at $7 billion.

After the occupation of once flourishing Lachin, the region came to a complete standstill.

Lachin region including 121 villages with a total area of 1,835 square kilometers, accommodated more than 63,000 Azerbaijanis, who have been displaced and temporarily settled in a dozen areas of the country. More than 300 military men and civilians were killed or went missing during Lachin's occupation, and 103 people were wounded or disabled. As many as 18 Azerbaijani children were killed, 225 were injured, and 31 lost both parents.

Occupation of Lachin also caused tremendous damage to historical heritage of Azerbaijan: priceless historical, cultural, architectural and religious monuments were destroyed.

A total of 8,950 buildings, 7 industrial and construction enterprises, 471 service facilities, 154 schools, and hundreds of cultural and historical monuments remain under occupation.

These are not just dry statistics of losses, but an incurable wound inflicted to the people of Azerbaijan as a result of Armenian aggression. The wound that bleeds on the body of Azerbaijan. Today Lachin, like other Azerbaijani lands under occupation, are waiting for their deliverers.

An undeclared war between Armenia and Azerbaijan are still ongoing and for 24 years, the two countries live the period of cold war: Azerbaijan continues to seek a way out of this situation, while the Armenian separatists entrenched in Azerbaijani lands, simply ignore all kinds of conventions and regulations regarding them.

Despite four UN Security Council resolutions calling on Armenia to immediately withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani territory, Armenia continues its illegal and illegitimate occupation.

However, to this day, the situation has not changed. Over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions are under occupation of Armenia.

About one million Azerbaijanis are deprived of opportunities for normal living, while the perpetrators of the massacre still remain at large.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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