Azernews.Az

By Sabina Mammadli

The opening of a new international airport in Azerbaijan's Zangilan District is expected in mid-October 2022, Senior Advisor of the Special Representative of the Azerbaijani President in the Karabakh Economic Region (except for Shusha) Araz Imanov said.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the I Forum of Azerbaijani Think Tanks.

Imanov noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would also attend the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, the participants in the forum visited a mosque in Fuzuli's Merdinli village.

The guests were informed that the holy place for Muslims was used by Armenian occupiers to keep livestock.

"Not only Muslim sanctuaries but also Christian, Albanian religious and cultural monuments are in ruins," they were informed.

Further, the guests visited the Fuzuli International Airport, where they got acquainted with its infrastructure.

They were informed that the airport was commissioned in a record short time – within eight months, including the work on clearing it from mines.

Besides, the information was given to the visitors that it takes 35 minutes to fly from Baku to Fuzuli and that the Fuzuli airport also started operating international flights.

After, they visited the historic center of Shusha city.

There, the guests got acquainted with the busts of famous figures of Azerbaijani culture - Natavan, Bulbul, and Uzeyir Hajibayli, which got damaged by the Armenian armed forces. Then, the participants visited the Shusha fortress.

At the end of their visit, they saw one of the most picturesque places in Shusha city - Jidir Duzu.

Earlier, the day before, discussions were held on the role of think tanks in the peace process in the South Caucasus after the 2020 Second Karabakh War as part of the I Forum of Azerbaijani Think Tanks.

Currently, work is underway to restore Azerbaijan's liberated lands. Azerbaijan will rebuild its recently liberated areas in four stages. The initial stage includes the solution of the issues of governance and security, and infrastructure, while the subsequent stages include the solution of the issues of social services activities, reconstruction, and development of the economy.

In 2021, Azerbaijan allocated $1.5 billion for the reconstruction of liberated territories, followed by AZN 2.2 billion ($1.2 billion) in 2022. These funds will be used primarily to restore infrastructure (electricity, gas, water, communications, roads, education, health, and so on) as well as cultural and historical monuments.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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