The resettlement of Azerbaijani families to Karabakh has sparked debate on social media.

Azerbaijani Facebook* users considered the return of their compatriots to Karabakh a restoration of historical justice, but noted the importance of creating living conditions there. Armenian social media users expressed doubt that the Karabakh issue has been finally resolved.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on February 20, the first group of former internally displaced persons returned to the city of Khojavend. On March 31, 253 people from 64 Azerbaijani families were returned to the city.

By 12:55 Moscow time on April 1, Facebook users* had left more than 470 comments under the "Caucasian Knot" post about the return of 253 former IDPs to Khojavend.

Many users with Azerbaijani names in their nicknames described the return of Azerbaijani families to Karabakh as a restoration of justice. They pointed out that they are talking about people returning to their homelands, not resettling them to new territories.

"This is not resettlement, but a return to their native land, where their families lived," wrote Elcin Kuliyev.

"People are returning home after long years of waiting; this is a natural process," opined Yahya Mamedov. "This is only the first stage; other families will return later," said Tural Alıyev.

According to some social media users, the desire of former IDPs to return depends on living conditions in Karabakh. "The main thing is to restore infrastructure and jobs," wrote Natiq Əsgərov.

"If conditions are good, people will want to return themselves," stated Rufat Djaxangirov. "It's important that the state creates conditions for normal life in these territories," wrote Husniyya Babayeva.

"Security must come first, otherwise people won't stay," stated Fatima Djafarova. "It is important that there are no new conflicts and provocations," wrote Emin Huseynov.

"Stability is the main factor for the return of the population," noted Vuqar Amirxanlı.

Meanwhile, users with Armenian names expressed doubts about the voluntary nature of the Azerbaijani families' resettlement. They did not rule out the possibility that external circumstances could influence the displaced persons' decisions.

"There is a feeling that people are not entirely confident in their decision," Mxo Jan noted. "It's important to understand how voluntary this process is," noted Ivette Alexander Mir.

Users also expressed doubt that the Karabakh issue has been finally resolved.

"The question is what will happen in a few years," wrote Vahe Hayastan. "History shows that the situation can change again," said Naira Sargsyan.

"We need to think about long-term stability, not just the current moment," stated Artur Torosyan. "Each side sees its own truth and is not ready to give in," wrote Abram Agni. "We need to acknowledge the mistakes of all sides, otherwise dialogue is impossible," said Norayr Sargsyan.

Refusing to return to Karabakh is not a practice among Azerbaijani IDPs

The "Caucasian Knot" tried to find out from IDPs whether all those who moved to Karabakh live there permanently, or whether there are those who, having received housing, returned to their previous places of residence.

These questions were asked by "Caucasian Knot" correspondent Faik Majid to three people who have already moved to Shusha, the village of Khidirly, and the village of Khorovlu, as well as five Azerbaijani residents who are just preparing to return to Karabakh (including one native of the Jabrayil region and two internally displaced women from the Agdam region).

However, seven of the eight people said they had no information about that someone returned from Karabakh. Only Elman Veliyev, a former official with the Agdam district municipality, noted that he knows a family from the Agdam district who are not ruling out the possibility of returning to Baku.

"They don't have jobs, and they have a bank loan hanging over them, and as payments are delayed, the debt grows. Therefore, the state must somehow resolve the issue with the banks of freezing the debts until the returnees find employment. Otherwise, they will be forced to return to Baku, where there are more earning opportunities," he said.

As a reminder, Azerbaijani residents who returned to Karabakh told the "Caucasian Knot" that they are settling in and finding work. Despite ongoing problems with employment and infrastructure, the displaced persons report improved living conditions.

For example, Rashid Aliyev, whose family returned to the village of Khidirly in the Agdam region in the summer of 2025, said that his retired parents were provided with a separate two-room house, and he, his wife, and three children were given a three-room house. "Each house was allocated a 12-hectare plot of land. Some planted flowers, others trees. But most, like me, created livestock mini-farms. I built a barn and a chicken coop. "I have four cows, a bull, a dozen rams, two dozen chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys. There are excellent conditions for livestock farming here," Aliyev said.

On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan launched 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".