Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Approving the “First State Program on the Great Return to the Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Liberated from Occupation”

Twenty percent of the internationally recognized territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan were occupied by the Republic of Armenia for almost 30 years. During the occupation, Azerbaijani cities and other settlements in these territories, including infrastructure facilities, were completely devastated, our national cultural heritage was destroyed, natural resources were plundered, significant damage was caused to the economy, and more than a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced persons.

On September 27, 2020, in response to yet another military provocation by Armenia, the Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation. As a result of the 44-day Patriotic War, our lands were liberated from occupation, and the territorial integrity of the country was restored.

Having liberated its lands, the Republic of Azerbaijan entered a new stage in its historical development, characterized by the implementation of large-scale construction and restoration projects based on sustainable peace and progress, serving as an example for many countries. Since the end of the Patriotic War, significant work has been carried out to clear the territories liberated from occupation of mines and unexploded ordnance, create modern housing, production, and service infrastructure, restore economic activity, and rebuild transport and communication lines, in particular, the opening of the Zangezur Corridor.

The implementation of targeted and large-scale projects serves the rapid revival of the Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions, ensures the regular resettlement of the population and sustainable economic activity, and creates a sound basis for transforming these territories into highly developed regions.

The Great Return to the territories liberated from occupation is defined as one of the five National Priorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan until 2030. The “Socio-Economic Development Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022–2026,” based on these National Priorities, is an important document aimed at achieving the goals of this new stage of development.

Guided by paragraph 3 of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and in order to ensure the implementation of the “Socio-Economic Development Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022–2026,” approved by Order No. 3378 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated July 22, 2022, I hereby resolve as follows:

1. To approve the “First State Program on the Great Return to the Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Liberated from Occupation” (attached).
2. The Coordination Headquarters Regarding the Centralized Resolution of Issues in the Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Liberated from Occupation shall take the necessary coordination measures to ensure the effective implementation of the “First State Program on the Great Return to the Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan Liberated from Occupation” (hereinafter referred to as the State Program) approved by Part 1 of this Order.
3. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall:

3.1. Exercise control over the implementation of the measures provided for in the State Program and the related reporting;

3.2. Twice a year, inform the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan about the work carried out to implement the State Program, including the status of implementation of the measures provided for in the State Program;

3.3. Resolve other issues arising from this Order.

4. Monitoring and evaluation of the measures envisaged in the State Program, based on the instruction of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, shall be carried out by the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications.
5. To finance the measures envisaged in the State Program, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall annually take the necessary steps to allocate financial resources during the preparation of the state budget and state investment programs, respectively.

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, November 16, 2022