Year 2020 went down in history as a glorious for Azerbaijan. As a result of the 44-day Patriotic War led by our wise President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, Karabakh was liberated from occupation and an end was put to our people’s longing for the homeland. After 30 years of occupation of Jabrayil, Gubadli, Zangilan, Fuzuli, Agdam, Kalbajar, Lachin districts, Shusha and Hadrut, as well as in hundreds of villages and settlements, the tricolor Azerbaijani proudly flies there again. The more gratifying the return of our territories, the more heartbreaking it is to see those places.
Although it was known in advance that the enemy had wreaked havoc in the occupied territories, the scale of the tragedy was unimaginable. We look and see now: Armenian occupiers have destroyed the entire infrastructure, destroyed our cities, settlements and villages. The whole world sees what savagery the Azerbaijani people were faced with. There have been many wars in the history of mankind but nowhere has there been so much cruelty and so much hostility. Such atrocities were unseen even during World War II, religious and historical sites were not destroyed. The deplorable situation in Karabakh shows that Armenian fascism is the most ugly and cruel of all fascisms in all countries.
President Ilham Aliyev described the situation in the liberated lands at a press conference for local and foreign media on 26 February: “You drive hundreds of kilometers and see only destroyed villages, there is not a single sound building left. There is not a single building in Agdam. There is only a partially destroyed mosque, which the Armenians used as a landmark and an observation post to correct fire… There is not a single building in Fuzuli. There was not even a place to hoist a flag… The situation is the same in Jabrayil. There are several houses left in Zangilan and Gubadli, and they were used in illegal settlements.”
The unimaginable atrocities committed by the enemy, the immeasurable destruction have been documented and recorded by the photo lens. AZERTAC’s film crew is also closely involved in this work. Filming has been going on in Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan and Khojavand districts for several months. The group, which includes a journalist, a photographer and a cameraman, travels from a village to village, from a neighborhood to neighborhood, from one street to another, from one house to another, filming traces of Armenian atrocities and recording the extent of destruction.
In fact, words are a weapon and journalists soldiers during war. Building on this principle, AZERTAC has mobilized all its creative and technical potential from the early hours of the second Karabakh war, worked 24/7 to regularly cover the course of hostilities, convey the truth about the conflict and information about the enemy’s war crimes to the world community. From day one, our correspondents commissioned to the war zone prepared photo and video reports from the regions liberated by the glorious Azerbaijani Army and circulated them the world over.
Our crews at the frontline filmed Armenian provocations putting their lives at risk. In particular, they prepared thousands of photos and videos, reports and stories about the treacherous attacks of the Armenian armed forces on the civilian population and the shelling of settlements. These materials, prepared directly from the scene, were published on the AZERTAC web-site in seven foreign languages.
After the war ended, the film crew of AZERTAC switched its focus to filming the destruction. We have been working in the liberated territories for more than six months. The goal is to document all every single case of destruction and the damage inflicted by the enemy on the people of Azerbaijan. The state of Azerbaijan intends to take Armenia to international courts for these crimes. The materials collected in this manner can also be used as irrefutable evidence.
The following are some of the photos our film crew sent in from Fuzuli, Zangilan and Jabrayil districts. The scenes depicted need no an explanation. As President Ilham Aliyev said, it is as if a savage tribe has swept through these places.
Fuzuli city without a single sound building left
One of the places destroyed by the enemy is the city of Fuzuli. The city of Fuzuli, which borders on Jabrayil, Khojavand, Aghjabadi, Beylagan districts and Iran along the Araz River, was occupied by Armenian armed forces in 1993. The glorious Azerbaijani Army liberated the city of Fuzuli on 17 October 2020.
Speaking about the heartbreaking sights he saw along the way during his visit to Fuzuli on 16 November last year, President Ilham Aliyev said: “We have returned to Fuzuli. But it hurts to see the destroyed villages and the city of Fuzuli along the road. Look what the savages did to our city! They have destroyed everything, they have destroyed houses, they have destroyed the entire infrastructure, there is not a single safe building. The whole world should see what the Armenian savagery is all about. And we will show it to the whole world. Not only Fuzuli, but also Aghdam and other cities. It is as if a savage tribe has swept through these lands.”
