89 Azerbaijani families have returned to the former Karabakh conflict zone.

Today, 337 members of Azerbaijani families who fled during the Karabakh conflict returned to four villages. A total of 2,663 Azerbaijanis from 714 families have returned to settlements in the Aghdere district.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," Azerbaijanis from Karabakh settlements were forced to flee their homes after the start of the First Karabakh War. The return of the internally displaced persons began after Azerbaijan took control of these territories. By December 24, 2025, 6,206 families (24,729 people) had returned to 31 settlements in the former Karabakh conflict zone.

Today, the first groups of former internally displaced persons (IDPs) were returned to four villages in the Aghdere district – Ashagi Oratag, Heyvali, Chapar, and Chyldiran, APA reports.

Eighty-nine families (337 people) were sent there, having previously been temporarily housed in various regions of Azerbaijan, primarily in dormitories, sanatoriums, and administrative buildings, the publication states.

Today, 31 families (119 people) resettled to the village of Ashagi Oratag, 19 families (74 people) to Heyvali, 26 families (96 people) to Chapar, and 13 families (48 people) to the village of Chyldyran, Report writes.

Including today's departure, the number of residents returned to the Aghdere district has reached 2,663 (714 families), the agency reports.

The mayor of Martakert confirmed the transfer of the city to Azerbaijan

As a reminder, on September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan conducted large-scale military operations and took control of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which began a mass exodus of the Armenian population. By October 7, 2023, 100,632 internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh had arrived in Armenia, and by September 2024, only 14 Armenians remained in the region. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report entitled "The Beginning and End of the Unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".

On November 10, 2023, Azerbaijani authorities announced that they planned to resettle 140,000 people in Karabakh by 2026.

Azerbaijani IDPs complained about the difficulties of returning to Karabakh. In particular, they noted a shortage of jobs in Fizuli. People are seeking opportunities to return to their homelands, but in the territories under Azerbaijani control, property issues have not yet been resolved, IDPs noted.

Azerbaijani analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" pointed out that simply providing housing for IDPs returning to their cities is not enough. The authorities must create jobs and build infrastructure, they emphasized.