President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has viewed conditions created at a newly built residential complex for 1,170 IDP families in Tartar district.

President Ilham Aliyev visited IDP Pakiza Mammadova's house.

Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister, chair of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov informed the President that 1,170 apartments occupys a total area of 88,000 square metres. The four-storey buildings have 120 one-room, 504 two-room, 472 three-room and 80 four-room apartments.

The new residential complex features all necessary infrastructure facilities, including school, kindergarten, music school, administrative building, community club, and medical centers.

The head of state viewed the 1,200-seat school at the complex. The school also features information about the "Maragha-150" monument which exposes the territorial claims of the Armenians against Azerbaijan.

After familiarizing himself with the canteen and library of the school, President Ilham Aliyev met with representatives of the district's general public and IDPs. The head of state made a speech at the meeting.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- We are gathered for the opening of a new settlement built for IDPs in Tartar District. My congratulations to all the IDPs who will live here on this remarkable event.

This is a very large project. From now on, 1,170 families will comfortably live in this settlement which consists of 34 multi-storey buildings. It has a beautiful school for 1,200 pupils, a kindergarten, a music school, and a medical center. All the conditions for a comfortable life are available here. The entire infrastructure has been created – heating, gas, electricity, water.

This shows again that the problems of refugees are always in the spotlight and are a priority for us. This is already the 97th settlement built by the Azerbaijani state for the IDPs. More than 250,000 people have been provided with houses and apartments in such settlements. This year, 2,300 families are moving into new apartments and houses. This process will also be continued next year. At least 4,000 IDP families will move to new apartments and houses next year. This demonstrates the policy of the Azerbaijani state. It shows that the problems of internally displaced persons are our top priority. It is no coincidence that the first funds of the State Oil Fund were spent specifically on resolving the problems of IDPs on the instructions of great leader Heydar Aliyev. This policy continues today. Fairly large funds are allocated every year. It is also the case this year and will be the case next year. There are still IDPs living in a difficult situation, but their problems will also be resolved. As I have already mentioned, at least 4,000 families will be provided with new houses next year, and we will thus gradually resolve this problem. The IDPs who will live in this settlement used to live in very difficult conditions. Someone rented a flat, others lived in unfit buildings and kindergartens. A new period begins in their life today, and this is indeed a very significant event. I should also note that the settlement was built and put into operation in a short time. Less than a year has passed since the construction began. This shows that we have ample opportunities to address these issues in a short time.

Another direction of activity of the State Oil Fund is participation in the most important national projects as a funding source. The State Oil Fund is the funding source of several projects of strategic importance for our country. First of all, the absolute majority of settlements built to resolve the problems of IDPs was establishing with allocations from the State Oil Fund. This shows, as I have always said, that we are transforming the "black gold" into human capital in Azerbaijan. The oil revenues are channeled into the development of the country's economy, the implementation of infrastructure projects and the solution of social issues. Therefore, this difficult problem will be gradually resolved.

Another important event occurred in the life of our IDPs this year. After a long break, life has returned to the village of Jojug Marjanli. Final steps are being taken now to restore the village of Jojug Marjanli now. At the first stage, we marked the commissioning of 50 houses this year. I participated in that ceremony. And now the construction of another 100 houses has been completed. Residents of Jojug Marjanli will move into these houses soon. There, too, the entire infrastructure has been created. A school, a medical center, a mosque, which is an analogue of the Shusha mosque, were built. So life has returned to Jojug Marjanli. The restoration of the village of Jojug Marjanli is of particular importance. It is quite symbolic. This shows that the Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani state have never put up with occupation. Residents of Jojug Marjanli who lived in other places for many years have returned to their native village as soon as the opportunity presented itself. They lived with this dream, and it has already been realized. Their dream has come true. Therefore, the restoration of Jojug Marjanli is an event of great importance.

At the same time, the restoration of Jojug Marjanli was made possible by the successful results of the April battles. Last year, the Azerbaijani army inflicted a crushing blow to the enemy and freed thousands of hectares of land from it. After that, it became possible to live in Jojug Marjanli. The April fights are a glorious and historic victory for us, a victory of Azerbaijani soldiers and the Azerbaijani state. We have once again proved to the whole world that the Azerbaijani army is among the strongest armies on a world scale. This is also acknowledged by international ratings. We have once again proved that Azerbaijan will never reconcile itself with the current situation and will restore its territorial integrity.

The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is recognized and supported by the whole world. All international organizations have expressed their position on this issue. The most influential organization among them is the UN. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions demanding an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from our occupied lands. So the international community has expressed its stance on the issue. Historical justice is also on our side. We are all well aware and the whole world knows today that Nagorno-Karabakh is ancient Azerbaijani land and the Armenians were resettled to these territories in the 19th century. There are numerous historical documents confirming this. Some of these documents and exhibits reflecting this event are demonstrated in the Tartar Museum of History and Regional Studies which opened today. This is also reflected in science books. This is confirmed by a monument erected in 1978 and reflecting the resettlement of Armenians from Iran to Nagorno-Karabakh. At that time, the 150th anniversary of the resettlement of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh was marked and even a monument was erected to reflect this. Immediately after the conflict began, the Armenians destroyed this monument. But they failed to destroy it to the very end. Fragments of the monument were found, restored and are already stored as visual proof. This shows to the whole world that the Armenians are alien to this territory. They were resettled here. We know perfectly well who resettled them and how, and history confirms this.

Therefore, when I always said that Nagorno-Karabakh is our ancestral and historic land, I relied on historical truth. Our common cause is to inform the whole world about this, and we already see that today. As a result of our efforts and tireless activities in the world, an unequivocal opinion has shaped in the world about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As I have already mentioned, all influential international organizations recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan and adopted numerous resolutions confirming this. We provide the whole world information about the historical past of Nagorno-Karabakh. The final Declaration adopted by the recent Eastern Partnership Summit of the European Union once again confirms and support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Eastern Partnership member-countries. This is a great diplomatic achievement for us. Therefore, ways of resolving the conflict should be based on this historical truth, justice and international law. I am sure that this will be the case. Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity. We can never allow a second Armenian state to be created on our lands.

This year, as a result of the April fighting, Azerbaijani citizens have returned to the once occupied and completely destroyed village of Jojug Marjanli. At the same time, this beautiful settlement has been built on this territory which was once under occupation. This once again shows that we live on our own land. The former Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region is the territory and land belonging to Azerbaijan. We are meeting on this land, the land liberated from invaders. Citizens of Azerbaijan will live and the Azerbaijani flag will fly here.

I regularly come to Tartar District. Last year I came here twice. Last year, we marked the opening of a drinking water project together. I am glad that this project serves the people of Tartar today. Now the city population is fully provided with drinking water. Drinking water lines have also been extended to several villages. This is a wonderful project and a great event. At the same time, other infrastructure projects are being successfully implemented. Gasification has already reached 94 per cent, and I am sure that all Tartar settlements will be fully supplied with gas in the near future. There are no problems with electricity either. Rural roads are being built. Today we marked the opening of one of such roads. Several rural road projects have already been implemented. Next year, there are also plans to build roads that would link several villages. In other words, I am sure that by the end of next year the absolute majority of the villages of Tartar District will have excellent roads. Issues of industrial production and social issues are being addressed. A beautiful hospital, a Youth Center and a Chess School have been built. the Museum of Local History was opened today.

Agriculture is successfully developing in Tartar. Cotton-growing is reviving. I should also note that I am regularly informed about the collection of cotton. I see that Tartar District is currently in first place in terms of the yields. This is great! I congratulate you on this wonderful occasion.

The traditions of cotton-growing are being restored. In the future, agricultural produce will be grown on an even larger territory. This means employment. At the same time, it is an initiative that enhances material well-being. We all know perfectly well how cotton-growing developed in the times of great leader Heydar Aliyev. Unfortunately, we practically lost this sector afterwards and are restoring it now. Over the course of two years, we achieved successes. Whereas in 2015 about 30,000 tons of cotton were harvested, today, although the collection is still ongoing and will last until the end of the year, more than 190,000 tons of cotton have been harvested. We plan to increase production, in particular, at the expense of productivity. Therefore, I believe that the experience of Tartar workers should be applied to other regions, because not all the districts have yields as high as yours. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the agrotechnical measures taken here, the experience associated with irrigation and the use of technology, and send recommendations to districts with lower yields. I am giving this order. There is no plan yet but the goal is there. I am very glad that Tartar has overfulfilled this plan. Tartar has exceeded the target by almost 25 per cent. This is very gratifying. There are also good results in other branches of agriculture.

In a word, Tartar District is developing fast today. Socioeconomic development is obvious. The people of Tartar standing face-to-face with the enemy have always played a special role in strengthening Azerbaijani statehood.

Today I will also visit the opening of a newly-built military unit. Azerbaijan's military power is growing with every passing day. As I have already mentioned, our army is among the strongest armies according to international rankings. All the needs of our army are provided for. State-of-the-art weaponry and equipment are being purchased, settlements built, infrastructure and military bases established. Of course, I want to note once again that Tartar and the people of Tartar stand face-to-face with the enemy on the frontline.

My greetings to all of you again, and I congratulate you on such a wonderful event.