Three years have passed since the liberation of the Lachin district from the Armenian occupation.
Lachin, one of the picturesque corners of Azerbaijan, is located in the southwestern part of the republic, in the Lesser Caucasus. The district borders Kalbajar in the north, Gubadli in the south, Khojaly, Shusha, and Khojavand districts of Azerbaijan in the east, and Armenia in the west. The distance from the city of Lachin to Baku is 450 km, and the Khankandi railway station is 60 kilometers from the city. The region includes one city, one settlement, and 125 villages.
The total area of the Lachin district is 1,835 square kilometers, with 72,000 hectares of pasture land and 34,000 hectares of dense forest. The district is located in a mountainous area, the highest point is the Gyzylbogaz peak (3,594 meters above sea level). The rivers Shalva and Minkand flowing through the territory of the district, merging, flow into the river Hakari (length 113 km), which originates from the territory of the district. There are also deposits of mercury, limestone, and other natural resources.
The withdrawal of the occupying forces of Armenia from the Lachin district became possible thanks to the political will and outstanding leadership skills of the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev.
In accordance with a trilateral statement signed on November 10, 2020, by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Lachin district was returned to Azerbaijan on December 1.
On September 27, the Azerbaijani army, preventing another provocation of the Armenian armed forces at the front, launched a counteroffensive, liberating several regions, hundreds of villages, towns, and strategic heights. The 44-day Patriotic War was crowned with a brilliant victory for the Azerbaijani army.
Having suffered defeat on the battlefield, Armenia was forced to sign an act of surrender. On December 1, 2020, units of the Azerbaijani army entered the region and raised the tricolor flag of Azerbaijan over the liberated Lachin.
On February 1, 2021, President Ilham Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, and their daughter Leyla Aliyeva visited the Lachin district. The head of state raised the flag of Azerbaijan in the village of Gulabird, Lachin. The Gulabird hydroelectric power station was opened with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan.
Lachin City Day is solemnly celebrated on August 26 every year following the decree signed by President Ilham Aliyev on July 31. The celebration of the significant day on this date is related to the deployment of the Azerbaijani Army in the city of Lachin on August 26 last year. On the same day, President Ilham Aliyev announced the return of Azerbaijanis to the city of Lachin on Twitter (currently X): "Today, on August 26, we - Azerbaijanis have returned to the city of Lachin. The Azerbaijani Army was stationed in the city of Lachin. The villages of Zabukh and Sus have been taken under control. I congratulate all the inhabitants of Lachin and the people of Azerbaijan on this occasion. Long live, Lachin! Long live Azerbaijan!"
Thus, on August 26, the State Flag of Azerbaijan was raised in the city of Lachin. The Commander of the Army Corps, Major General Kanan Seyidov reported to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Ilham Aliyev, about the deployment of the Azerbaijani Army to the city of Lachin. Now the National Flag of Azerbaijan flies in the center of Lachin.
On August 25, 2023, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva made a trip to the Lachin district. The head of state attended the inauguration of the “Mishni” and ”Alkhasli” small hydroelectric power stations owned by Azerenerji OJSC in the Lachin district. The President and First Lady viewed the progress of construction of the Lachin International Airport. President Ilham Aliyev viewed the works carried out in the 38-76 kilometer section of the Kalbajar-Lachin highway. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of hotel complex to be built near the city of Lachin, inauguration of a furniture factory in the industrial zone of the Lachin district, and got acquainted with the prefabricated modular house production facility and the small cattle pen. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the inaugurations of the shooting pavilion of the “Hochazfilm” creative studio, the Lachin district secondary school No.2 after major overhaul, and the opening of the “Hakari Fish Farm.”
On September 19 of this year, local anti-terrorist measures were launched in the region in order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Declaration, prevent large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and withdraw the Armenian armed forces units from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, ensure the safety of civilians returning to the liberated territories and the civil workers and military personnel involved in the reconstruction work, and restore the constitutional structure of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
During the measures that lasted for a little more than 23 hours, the positions of the Armenian armed forces on the front line and in-depth and long-term firing points, as well as combat vehicles and military objects, were destroyed by the use of high-precision weapons. The enemy raised a white flag. With this, the constitutional structure was restored in all territories of Azerbaijan.
Currently, restoration and reconstruction work is being carried out in Lachin, new infrastructure is being built, and the district is being revived. So far, 363 families (1,389 people) have been moved to the city of Lachin, and 121 families (475 people) to the village of Zabukh. Those families have permanently settled in the houses they once lived in, which were restored or rebuilt based on the instructions of the head of state after the end of the occupation. The process is still ongoing.
Lachin was occupied on May 18, 1992.
