AGDAM, Azerbaijan – About 30 years after the war saw Armenian forces drive hundreds of thousands of Azeris from their homes in and around the conflict-ravaged Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, many hope to return soon after Azerbaijan will regain much of its area in a counteroffensive last fall.
But for Sayali Pashayeva and others like her, that dream is clouded by questions such as where they would live in the rubble-strewn border territories and whether they could realistically create a new way of life upon their return.
“Thank God for allowing me to return to die on my own land,” said Pashayeva, 74, on her first visit back to Agdam, once home to her family and others. 40,000 people. Her son and daughter unfurled a red carpet in the trunk, a gift to the local mosque, the only building left standing here, about 3 miles from the Nagorno-Karabakh border, still officially under ethnic Armenian control. The capital, Stepanakert, is being monitored by Russian peacekeepers.
“I have been waiting for this moment for 30 years,” said Pashayeva’s son, Alastun Pashayev, 45. Azerbaijan secured control of Agdam and several other regions in and around the enclave during a bloody six-week battle before Russia brokered a ceasefire in November.
In fact, the return will not be easy. Mr Pashayev says he knows that $ 135 a month in disability payments and the pension paid to displaced people will not be enough to make up for the life he lost in Agdam three decades ago when he was still a child.