Return
The land they came back to
On 20 November 2020 the Aghdam district returned under Azerbaijani control — following the Second Karabakh War and the trilateral agreement of 10 November. The district was handed over without fighting and was the first to be returned.
What met those returning shocked even the prepared: a field of ruins where the city had stood. Yet it was here that one of the largest reconstruction programmes in the country’s history began.
How it is built
A city of a new kind
Master plan
A master plan for Aghdam has been approved: quarters, streets, public spaces and green zones designed anew.
“Smart city”
The city is conceived on smart-city principles — energy efficiency, modern networks and digital services.
Demining
Before building can start, sappers clear the land of mines — slow and dangerous work that takes years.
Industrial park
An industrial park is being created in Aghdam — jobs and an economic base for those returning.
Mosque restoration
One of the first sites restored was the Juma Mosque — the symbol of the city regained its dignity.
People returning
Residents have begun returning to the district’s villages — the first “smart villages” are already taking in families.
“Smart village”First residents
Homes people come back to
In the villages of the Aghdam district modern homes have been built with infrastructure — schools, clinics and solar power. Families who spent thirty years far from their native land are moving in.
For the older generation it is a homecoming; for the younger, a first encounter with a place they have heard about all their lives.
Timeline