"This time last year, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh resumed, which I closely followed and covered.
Therefore, I gladly accepted the offer of the Embassy of Azerbaijan to see the situation in and around Karabakh one year after the conflict.
I think this experience will be interesting for Georgia, which has a similar problem with territorial integrity," said Zurab Batiashvili, an orientalist and researcher at the Rondeli Center, during an interview with report.ge.
- Recently, at the initiative of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Georgia, you and a group of Georgian journalists visited Karabakh.
What is the situation in Karabakh after the end of the second war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and what are the consequences of the war?
Azerbaijan regained control of 9 districts. We visited six districts (Shusha, Agdam, Jabrayil, Fizuli, Zangilan, and Hadrut).
The first thing a person notices upon arriving in Karabakh is demining (this issue is important, restoration works get hampered, which is a priority for Azerbaijan at the moment).
The first thing you notice when approaching the former Karabakh front line is the grand systems of trenches and anti-tank trenches.
Its length is up to 200 km, and in some places, 8-12 such parallel lines follow the former front line. These places are fully mined with both anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. There are many shells fired during the conflict, which did not explode and are now dangerous.
The areas behind these lines are also mined. For example, it is known that 98,000 such mines were planted in the ground in the Agdam district alone. It is estimated that up to a million mines have been planted in Karabakh. In Agdam, only roads are mined, and even one step off the road can cost you life. In Agdam alone, 42 people lost their lives to those mines after the war.
Therefore, citizens are not allowed to cross the former front line. Special checkpoints have been set up along the former front lines.
Azerbaijan is especially grateful to Georgia, through which the Armenian side provided them with maps of the mined fields, but often these maps are inaccurate. The Armenian side spontaneously planted too many new mines as a result of last year's retreat, and naturally, they are not on the map.
New highways are being built in the Jabrayil area, as well as in many other places. But construction techniques are led by those who are actively clearing areas from mines.
You can not look at the tens of thousands of ruined houses without emotion. All of them probably had generations living there, and everyone had their history. In some places (for example, in the cities of Fizuli and Agdam, as well as in dozens of villages), only piles of stones are left from the old buildings.
Roads are also destroyed. In some places, traces of asphalt left from the Soviet period can be seen. In some places, the old roads have simply disappeared.
Infrastructure is also destroyed. There is no electricity, gas, no mobile communication.
What about your impressions of what is happening now in the territories that Azerbaijan has recaptured?
Azerbaijan has begun reconstruction work at a rapid pace. It can be said that the areas of Karabakh cleared of mines have been turned into a large construction site. New roads and buildings are being built, communications are being made. The Azerbaijani side estimates that the full reconstruction of Karabakh will require $ 50 billion, and this process will take several years. Oil-rich Azerbaijan has these solid funds, which the country spends for this purpose.
Restoration work is carried out according to a pre-approved plan.
These works are coordinated on the spot by special representatives appointed by the President of Azerbaijan in specific districts (we have even met several of them).
We saw with our own eyes that these works are carried out on a 24-hour basis.
The construction of a new road to Shusha is almost completed, the construction of highways connecting the city of Jabrayil and the city of Agdam continues.
Restoration work is particularly fast in the city of Shusha. There are already two five-star hotels in the city, administrative buildings and houses are being restored at a rapid pace (unlike other places, buildings are damaged here, but most of them have not been demolished), restaurants are being built, communications are being dismantled, historical monuments are being restored. (Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, which was damaged during the second was is also under construction).
We visited the restored house-museum of Bülbüloğlu (the father of the famous Azerbaijani singer Polad Bülbüloğlu), the founder of Azerbaijani opera music. This museum also has exhibits related to Tbilisi, as he lived in Tbilisi for a while.
The Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the region told us that the reconstruction work would last 1.5-2 years, and after that, the IDPs will be able to return. At the moment, only the military and people employed in restoration work live in the city.
The construction of a new international airport in accordance with modern standards is being completed in the Fizuli district, where test flights have already been performed (we also visited this airport).
We had the opportunity to visit Agdam, or rather what is left of it. There are mostly piles of stones. In terms of destruction, Agdam is sometimes compared to Hiroshima.
Agdam is completely destroyed, a new super-modern city of 100,000 will be built in its place. The plan has already been approved, and construction will begin as soon as the area is cleared.
Since there is a lot of work to be done in these areas and they cannot do everything at once, construction companies from friendly countries have been invited.
As the representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities told us on the spot, talks between the Ministers of Economy of Azerbaijan and Georgia have already taken place in order for Georgian companies to be involved in the construction process in the city of Agdam.
They are going to restore vineyards and winemaking in the Agdam district, and the Georgian side needs to be involved in this direction as well.
So, it is completely realistic to involve Georgian companies in this recovery process, which, of course, will be beneficial both for them and for the whole country in general.
