Over 250,000 Azerbaijanis who lived in the territory of Armenia through the time of history, were all deported to their native lands and took shelter in Azerbaijan as the result of the last ethnical cleansing, carried out by Armenians in 1988-1992s.
At the same time 50,000 Meskhetian Turks, exiled from the Central Asia in 1990s, took shelter in Azerbaijan.
The plan of forced deportation of Azerbaijanis from 126 settlements in Nagorny Karabakh which formed an integral part of Azerbaijan, was carried out since 1988. One of the most tragic acts was committed exactly during that period. The town of Khodjali with the population of 7,000 in Nagorny Karabakh, was razed to the ground by Armenian military forces with the support of Soviet troops. 613 peace residents were killed with special barbarism and cruelty, 150 people are reported missed. 1,000 peaceful residents became invalids of various categories, 1,275 persons – elderly persons, women, children were taken hostages and subjected to awful humiliation, oppression and torture.
20% of Azerbaijan lands – Nagorny Karabakh and adjacent 7 regions were occupied; over 600,000 people were deprived of permanent residence and became internal displaced persons, taking shelter in 62 towns and regions, and more than 1,600 living stations of the republic, in result of military aggression of Armenian armed forces against our country since 1988.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of Azeris displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories occupied by ethnic Armenian troops continue to live in camps in Azerbaijan. (rferl.org)
Besides, more than 100,000 refugees had to leave borderline permanent living stations of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, Agdjabadi, Agdam, Agstafa, Fuzuli, tartar, Goranboy, Gadabay, Gazakh and Tovuz, bordering with the Armenian Republic and Nagorny Karabakh, in the view of safety.
There are also 11,000 persons, seeking for “refugee” status (shelter), in Azerbaijan. Majority of them is Russian citizens of Chechen origin, Afghans and persons from Iran, Irag, Palestine.
Thus, there are about million refugees, internal displaced persons and people seeking to get “refugee” status (shelter) in Azerbaijan at present.
During 1988-1992 period 20,000 Azerbaijanis perished, 100,000 people wounded, 50,000 became disabled of different categories as a result of Armenian aggression.
During the conflict 4,852 Azerbaijanis (including 54 children, 323 women and 410 elderly persons) missed, 1,368 of them (including 169 children, 338 women and 286 elderly persons) were released from captivity, but 783 (including 18 children, 46 women and 69 elderly persons) are still kept in Armenia until now. According to the International Committee of Red Cross, 439 persons were captured.
It is impossible to calculate damage, caused by Armenian aggression to Azerbaijan national culture in Nagorny Karabakh and adjacent regions. Destroyed material and spiritual wealth is not only unexampled culture patterns of Azerbaijan, but also whole world. According to primary data, more than USD 60 billion damage were caused to Azerbaijan economy along with psychological shock.
