In April 1993 in Azerbaijan
Kalbajar, the region of 1936 square km and locating outside of the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, was occupied by Armenian armed forces after the long battles on April 2, 1993. As a result of the occupation, 511 peaceful residents were killed, 321 were taken captive or became missing, and 58 thousand were displaced. 130 settlements of Kalbajar city went into the control of Armenian forces. 97 schools, 9 kindergartens, 116 libraries, 43 clubs, 42 cultural houses, 9 hospitals and 13 000 private houses were totally destroyed, forests, natural resources, including gold deposits were plundered. Kalbajar’s economy damaged with the estimated amount of 1 bln. USD. as a result of the occupation.
Historic monuments, such as Albanian temple, Albanian churches, fortresses of “Lok”, “Ulukhan”, “Galabonu”, “Jomerd”, “Keshikchi”, mosques in the town of Kalbajar and in its settlements, as well as bridges, museum of history and ethnography, cultural houses were destroyed by Armenian forces.
Kalbajar was rich with its natural resources, especially gold fields, such as Soyudlu-Zod with 112.5 tons of industrial resources, and Aghduzdagh and Tuxtun with more than 13 tons of resources.
Kalbajar was also famous with its water springs, such as “Upper Istisu”, “Lower Istisu”, “Keshdek”, “Garasu”, “Tutxun”, “Mozchay” and “Goturlusu” which are under the Armenian occupation.
Unfortunately, those rich natural resources which are property of the Azerbaijani people have been plundered by Armenian vandals. Currently, the Armenian companies produce the “Istisu” mineral water with the name "Jamruk", and export illegally to some foreign countries.
After the occupation of Kalbajar region, UN Security Council adopted the resolution 822 and demanded withdrawal of all invasion forces from Kalbajar and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan, but that resolution and other three adopted later were not fulfilled.
Contrary to the UN and OSCE core principles, Armenians have started their artificial settlement in Kalbajar since 1999.
Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
Azerbaijan people is still suffering with the results of the occupation, and despite the vandalism committed by Armenian invaders against Azerbaijan, these heinous acts have not yet received due condemnation by the international community.
