How the rebuilding of Karabakh is giving hope to war-hit regions

 

When Russian peacekeepers completed their withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Baku recaptured last year from Armenian separatists. [AFP]

In September 2023, Azerbaijan took full control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, quickly followed by the dissolution of the self-proclaimed Artsakh Republic supported by Armenia.

This region of Azerbaijan has been a point of contention for over three decades now. Azerbaijan is located in the Caucasus region between Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

Thirty years ago, after a four-year war and the occupation of 20 per cent of the internationally recognised territories of Azerbaijan, under the Bishkek protocol, Russia brokered a ceasefire that saw Nagorno-Karabakh become de facto independent. Four UN Security Council Resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the area remained neglected.

Come November 2020, the second Nagorno-Karabakh war came to an end with Azerbaijan reclaiming most of its territory.

A major reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was launched, with full control of the region restored in September 2023.

A general view of a road network in Azerbaijan. [Noah Kipkemboi, Standard]

To begin with, making the land safe is the top priority. It is believed that an estimated 1,166,702 hectares contain landmines, with a significant investment being channelled into demining the area.

This has been a challenge to rebuilding the region, with 69 citizens of Azerbaijan killed and 308 injured since November 2020, while the total number of Azerbaijani mine victims from the beginning of the conflict in 1991 stands at 3,456.

Admitting the challenge of demining, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said: “This is one of the main impediments to the rapid rehabilitation of the lands because only authorised areas can be visited by people.

“Before we start building infrastructure and housing projects, deminers do their job. International companies offering their services have prices for demining that are five to ten times higher than the cost known to us, as we have our own national demining company.”

Asağı Govhar Agha Mosque in 2024. [Noah Kipkemboi, Standard]

According to the Azerbaijan Campaign Against Landmines Public Union, the country has spent on humanitarian demining around $350 million in the last four years. 

To open up the region, Azerbaijan is on an infrastructure-building spree.

First, access to the region has been made easier with the construction of two international airports (those in Fuzuli and in Zangilan are fully operational, with one in Lachin under construction) as well as major road and railway construction projects.

“The transport sector is always crucial for building prosperity, and while it is one of the key economic growth drivers, it is even more important for the reconstruction of the liberated territories.

“For the return to be successful, we need to reconnect goods and services to markets” Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Kenya Sultan Hajiyev told Sunday Standard.

I travelled to Azerbaijan recently to attend the Second Shusha Global Media Forum. After landing at Fuzuli International Airport, the over 100 kilometres of road to Shusha allowed me to observe the rebuilding exercise in parts of the region.

The road network indeed remains a critical piece in the economic and social rebuilding of the Karabakh region.

Hotel in Shusha. [Noah Kipkemboi, Standard]

It is these infrastructures that have paved the way for the return of Azerbaijanis who had to leave the region in 1994 after the takeover by Stepanakert (former Armenian name for the city of Khankendi).

Currently, there are four cities and four villages where people have already returned.

“We have close to 8,000 people already living in the liberated territories. By the end of the year, the number will grow to 20,000,” said President Azerbaijan Aliyev.

“Here in Shusha, a couple of months ago in May, we inaugurated the first housing projects consisting of 23 four- or five-storey buildings. This is where people have already re-settled. Everywhere in Karabakh and East Zangezur, there is a huge rehabilitation programme.”

Finally, Azerbaijan being an oil and gas producing country in an ever-greening world, the Karabakh region is set to be reconstructed to be powered by green energy.

This is of special interest, as the country will be hosting COP29 this November and the World Urban Forum in 2026.

Karabakh, East Zangezur, and also Nakhchivan, which is geographically more or less the same region, have been announced as a green energy zone, having great potential for solar energy.

Energy plans

While speaking at Shusha, Aliyev commented on this approach: “The solar plant I referred to, to be built by BP, is situated in Jabrayil, not very far away from here. There are big plans for Nakhchivan, including a solar plant with a capacity of 500 megawatts.

“Since the end of the Second Karabakh War, we have actively invested in hydro energy with 270 megawatts of hydropower already operational within three and a half years. The ultimate aim for hydropower capacity, to date, is 500 megawatts,” he said.

Fizuli airport. [Noah Kipkemboi, Standard]

As the Karabakh region rebuilds, the world is watching closely, Africa included.

“Our liberated territories were desolated as if after having expelled hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis, over 800,000 to be exact, our neighbours then turned on the land itself.

“However, we seek a path to peace and regional development for all to bring life back to this devastated region. The only way to do so is through partnerships both within as well as beyond the region,” Ambassador Hajiyev said.

“There are huge opportunities to strengthen our ties with Africa, and we need to harness them efficiently. Let us not forget the climate action agenda - Azerbaijan will be hosting COP29 this year, while Kenya is recognised as one of the leaders on the subject in the region.”   

The resilience plan in the Southern Caucus, especially after a long-standing conflict with Armenia and regional deterioration in Karabakh, remains in high gear.

It aims to set an example that even after being beaten down for decades, a proper, peaceful and internationally sound recovery plan is the way to go.