President Ilham Aliyev yesterday paid a working visit to the Tartar and Aghdara districts — a trip that carries not only symbolic weight, but also systemic political significance in the process of reintegrating the liberated territories.
The importance of this visit is underscored by the fact that, until very recently, the Aghdara district as an administrative unit did not even exist on the country’s map. It had existed until 1992 as part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR, but was abolished amid the collapse of the Soviet administrative system and the outbreak of armed conflict, with its territory divided between the Tartar and Kalbajar districts. During the First Karabakh War, the district became the scene of fierce fighting. In the summer of 1992, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces managed to establish control over nearly 80% of the former district’s territory, but due to manpower shortages and substantial support provided to Armenian forces by the Russian military, Azerbaijani forces were forced to withdraw from Aghdara in 1993, and the district fell under prolonged Armenian occupation.
With the fall of Aghdara, Azerbaijan lost its only land connection at the time between the Kalbajar district and the rest of the country, as well as its strategic water reserves — the Sarsang and Sugovushan reservoirs. Only after Azerbaijan’s victory in the Second Karabakh War and the anti-terrorist measures of 2023 was the district restored and reintegrated into the country’s administrative system, with key regional transport links and water arteries once again coming under Azerbaijani control.
Today, the Aghdara district is transforming from a symbol of loss into a model of restored sovereignty and renewed socio-economic space. More than 700 families — over 2,600 people — have already returned to their homes, a process that is accelerating under the state reconstruction program. Unlike many other liberated districts, Aghdara had been regarded by the Armenian side as “its own” territory, which meant that a significant share of housing and infrastructure was preserved, reducing the scale of destruction and speeding up recovery.
During the trip, President Ilham Aliyev inspected the reconstruction of key villages shaping the district’s new settlement pattern. In Chapar, 40 houses are already ready, another 23 will be restored within a year, and 26 families have returned. Electricity, gas, water supply, roads, and public spaces have been put in place. Similar processes are underway in Heyvali, Chyldyran, and Ashagy Oratag — villages that had been economically self-sufficient before the occupation and are now regaining full infrastructure. Dozens of families of former internally displaced persons are already living there, and the return of residents is gradually becoming a sustainable reality.
A key highlight of the visit was the opening of the Gozlukorpu Hydropower Plant on the Tartar River. With a capacity of 14.7 MW and annual generation of up to 43 million kWh, the plant strengthens the energy independence of Karabakh and East Zangezur while reducing gas consumption and emissions. Crucially, the Tartar River is formed entirely within Azerbaijan, eliminating external leverage over water resources. A network of small and medium hydropower plants is creating a resilient regional energy system that not only meets local needs but also feeds surplus electricity into the national grid.
The economic dimension of the visit was reinforced by the launch of the Demirli mining complex — the first major industrial project in the liberated territories. With a capacity of 5.6 million tons of ore per year and projected copper exports to China worth 1.6 billion manats, Aghdara is becoming an important element of the country’s new economic map. Hundreds of jobs are being created for former internally displaced persons, directly linking economic recovery with social reintegration.
The approval of Aghdara’s master plan anchors this transformation in the long term. The expansion of the urban area, construction of housing, schools, hospitals, logistics and industrial zones lays the foundation for a city with a population of up to 14,000. Aghdara is being designed as a modern, multifunctional center rather than merely a restored Soviet-era town.
Another element of the visit was the opening of residential buildings for military personnel. This is not only a social measure, but also an important component of ensuring sustainable security and a permanent state presence in the liberated territories.
Any account of the president’s visit would be incomplete without noting the reopening, after reconstruction, of the Tartar Electromechanical Plant. Founded in 1976 and originally opened with the participation of Heydar Aliyev, it has now become a modern defense-industry facility. After being transferred to the Ministry of Defense Industry in 2005 and undergoing further modernization, the plant has been equipped with high-precision machinery, its own testing grounds, and a quality control system. It has become part of the country’s export-oriented defense sector, which already produces goods worth 1.4 billion manats annually and exports to nearly 20 countries.
Taken together, Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the Tartar and Aghdara districts illustrates Karabakh’s transition from post-conflict stabilization to a phase of sustainable development. This is not merely about rebuilding what was destroyed, but about shaping a new economic, demographic, and infrastructural reality in which Aghdara and surrounding areas emerge as an integrated development hub for the liberated territories, capable of ensuring both social resilience and long-term economic growth.
Ilgar Velizade
