Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh issues statement

The Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has issued a statement on the 27th anniversary of the Gubadli region's occupation by the Armenian Armed Forces.

The statement said:

"On August 31, 1993, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied the Gubadli region. As a result of the Armenian aggression, 238 Gubadli residents were killed, 316 were disabled, and more than 100 people went missing. The administrative center and 93 villages of the region were destroyed and looted, and more than 40,000 Gubadli residents became IDPs. Armenian invaders destroyed  445,000 square meters of housing, four medical centers, six kindergartens, 61 secondary schools, ten culture houses, 24 clubs, one local history museum, 60 libraries, and burned 94 villages and settlements, 205 cultural facilities and 12 historical monuments. The enemy ruined nine ancient caves in each of Ashagi Mollu and Hamzali villages, five in Aliguluushagi village, and one of the 4th century in Gavur gorge, Goy fortress built in the 5th century, Galali fortress in Muradkhanli, and all historical monuments in Khojamsakhli village.

"Armenia's occupation of seven surrounding regions, including Gubadli, outside our ancestral land- the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, proves that the conflict stems from Armenia's intention to annex Azerbaijani territories forcibly. The recent intensification of Armenia's policy of illegal settlement in the occupied Azerbaijani lands, including Gubadli, shows that Armenia has not abandoned up its intention to invade our territories and strengthen its consequences and is not interested in a peaceful solution to the dispute.

"We declare that the conflict settlement is possible only after the withdrawal of the Armenian Armed Forces from all occupied Azerbaijani territories and the return of Azerbaijanis subjected to ethnic cleansing to their native lands. Like all IDPs, the people of Gubadli will return to their native lands."