On May 10, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with the residents who moved to Kangarli village in Aghdam district and presented them with the keys to their new homes.

Greeting the villagers, President Ilham Aliyev said: Welcome to Kangarli!

Residents: Thank you. You are the hero of the day. You are welcome too!

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. I congratulate you. Life is returning to Kangarli, the natives of Kangarli are already returning here. It is a great happiness and a historic event. Living in the land of our ancestors after a long break is a huge happiness, of course. I congratulate you on this occasion.

Residents: Thank you very much, we are grateful to you.

President Ilham Aliyev: You lived in difficult conditions for many years - in dilapidated houses, dormitories, kindergartens, and for a certain period in tent camps in various parts of our country. Today, in this beautiful village, we are seeing a renewed Azerbaijan, we are seeing a restored Karabakh. We are demonstrating that we have always been the owners of these lands, and it is the case today. Only the owner of this land can build and create here. The contemptible enemy devastated this entire region. Not a single building remained intact in Aghdam district. The entire city and all surrounding villages were completely razed to the ground. Not only in Aghdam, but almost in all the territories occupied at the time, the Armenian state was pursuing a consistent policy so that Azerbaijanis could never return to this region. They wanted to keep these lands under occupation forever. Some countries that provided them with moral and material support also stood in solidarity with them. But they had forgotten one thing: the Azerbaijani people will never come to terms with the occupation, the people of Azerbaijan will never give up on their native lands, the Azerbaijani state will rise up, gather strength, and expel the enemy from its land. They failed to calculate this.

Those painful years are now in the past. You are now returning to your native land, where wonderful conditions have been created for you. The village of Kangarli is beautiful. This is the first stage of the restoration and reconstruction of the village. A total of 292 houses are ready and will be made available to you. More houses will be built in the second stage. All conditions are available here. There are beautiful houses, there is electricity, gas, water, sewage, a school, a kindergarten, a market, a medical center, and even a market complex – everything is available. Land will be allocated for planting. Demining work has already been completed on some lands. I have given instructions so that residents can also be given plots of land. Land parcels are 12 acres. It is possible to plant and cultivate there too. In other words, life is returning, and justice has prevailed. This is a celebration of justice. We are witnessing that.

The city of Aghdam is also coming back to life. This morning I inaugurated the Aghdam railway station complex. After this event, the Aghdam Mugham Center will also be opened. The fact that we have built the Mugham Center as one of our first projects in Aghdam is evidence of our attachment to our spiritual roots. In other words, it was our music, language, and unyielding spirit that kept us together as a nation, as a people.

The displaced people lived in the most difficult conditions. You know that I had numerous meetings with the displaced people during the occupation, including those in tent cities. I had promised to them that not a single tent city would remain standing during my first presidential term, and in 2007 there was not a single one left. We also met in the newly built settlements, at the inauguration of those settlements. We provided nearly 300,000 displaced people with beautiful homes. During those meetings, I was saying that this is your temporary residence, and that after the lands are liberated, we will create even better conditions for you in Karabakh.

Resident: Thank you very much for this day.

President Ilham Aliyev: Today's ceremony is, as they say, the seal of those words. I know that neither you nor we, the entire Azerbaijani people, had any doubts that we would return to our lands. But we have returned magnificently. We defeated the enemy in a matter of 44 days. And then, within 23 hours, perhaps even faster, we completely eradicated the separatists. You, representatives of the older generation, remember the Soviet era. Back then, the Armenians who lived next to you, those who were resettled to our lands by Tsarist Russia, had a negative attitude towards us, our people, especially the Azerbaijanis who lived in the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. Both Khojaly and Shusha – they were under tremendous moral pressure.

Today, Azerbaijani citizens are the owners of every inch of land here. They live and will live everywhere. The rapid restoration work shows that all former displaced persons will soon return to their lands.

The village of Kangarli is the 14th settlement we have restored. It is second in Aghdam district. First Sarijali and now Kangarli. The village of Khidirli is almost ready for opening. In the coming months, life will be bustling there too. So you will not be bored here. Together with your relatives, friends, and acquaintances, you will rebuild this region, Karabakh. We will all build it together.

I congratulate you and wish you good health. Live happily here.

Residents: Thank you very much.

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Then, a ceremony for the presentation of the keys took place.

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Commemorative photos were taken.