Azerbaijani refugees want to return to village of Chodjuk Mardjanly (+video)

Mine clearing activities have been launched in the village of Chodjuk Mardjanly controlled by the Azerbaijani troops. 200 families of internally displaced persons (IDPs) declared their willingness to return to the village.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in January, the Azerbaijani authorities have allocated funds to restore the village of Chodjuk Mardjanly situated in the Karabakh conflict zone. The amount of 4 million manats (2.15 million US dollars) was allocated for the restoration of the village. The funds will be spent for "the first phase construction of 50 houses, schools, and related infrastructure," reported the Azerbaijani authorities.

The village has been "almost completely destroyed," reported Fuad Guseinov, the deputy chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Refugees and IDPs.

According to him, the restoration of the village of Chodjuk Mardjanly will be one of the stages of the Azerbaijani concept of "Big Comeback", the post-conflict rehabilitation of the territories and the return of the population after the settlement of the problem.

"After the conflict, Azerbaijan provided housing to 250,000 IDPs. However, the specific feature of the recovery of the village of Chodjuk Mardjanly in the fact that the IDPs will return to their native places," emphasized Fuad Guseinov.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.