Amanda Paul – Today’s Zaman
It can take a lifetime, in some cases even more, to heal these wounds. In an earlier column I had written about the sad story of Varosha, the ghost town of Cyprus, a victim of the decade-old Cyprus problem. Varosha’s residents are still waiting to return home 35 years after the end of hostilities. Today I am going to write about another ghost town. It is not so far away from Varosha although most people probably will never have heard of it. Agdam is a town surrounded by hills in the southwest part of Azerbaijan. Like Varosha, Agdam is the victim of a bloody war that ripped this beautiful part of the world apart leaving over 1 million people displaced or refugees. This war was fought between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Azerbaijani province of Nagorno-Karabakh between 1991 and 1994 (although atrocities started much earlier). Prior to the war over 150,000 people lived in Agdam, it had more than 100 schools and three mosques. Agdam’s residents, the majority of whom were Azerbaijanis, lived happily side-by-side.
The war left Nagorno-Karabakh under the control of Yerevan with Armenia going on to occupy a further seven Azerbaijani districts including Agdam Rayon. Azerbaijani forces were able to retake only a few villages in the Agdam Rayon but not the city itself. Today, what they were able to hold on to is used by the Azerbaijani army as a vital strategic defense ground. The road to the region is filled with military trucks carrying equipment back and forth to the front line. The British NGO, the Halo Trust is active there removing land mines that were planted during the war. Indeed, Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories is one of the most heavily mined parts of the world.
Unfortunately, poor living conditions and poverty have pushed people to plough and cultivate areas that they know are dangerous and contain mines; this has led to a large number of accidents and it is believed that Nagorno-Karabakh has one of the highest per capita human accident rates in the world.
On July 29, 1993 the UN Security Council passed UN Security Council Resolution 853 reaffirming Resolution 822, which condemns the seizure of Agdam and other areas of Azerbaijan, demanding a complete withdrawal of Armenian troops. However, this will not happen as Armenia claims it holds these districts to maintain a security buffer zone between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh and they will only be returned as part of a comprehensive peace settlement which should include how to resolve the thorny issues of the eventual final status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Agdam is only some 10 kilometer away from Khankandi/Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. Today Agdam is a ghost town. As Agdam fell, almost its entire population fled eastward and in the immediate aftermath of the fighting. More damage occurred in the following decade when the deserted town was looted for building materials. Agdam is currently lying in ruins. The infrastructure, as Varosha, is now broken down and destroyed with nature retaking the town. Of the remaining buildings, most are full of bullet holes and totally uninhabitable. Of course, Agdam is not the only town deserted and/or destroyed as a consequence of war. There are numerous other towns and villages that have been destroyed. Magnificent Susha, once a leading holiday destination is a shell of its former glorious self.
Moreover, Agdam has become the frontline of the war with the “Line of Contact” only a short distance away. With around 30,000 Azerbaijani’s and Armenians facing each other over this fragile cease-fire line, lives continue to be lost, including civilians who continue to live around the conflict zone. Earlier this year a 9-year-old Azerbaijani boy lost his life. While innocently playing in his backyard he was hit by a stray bullet. The situation is exacerbated by the ongoing use of snipers and still further by Armenia carrying out large-scale military exercises in the territory, including in the Uzundere district.
Agdam is waiting for its resident to return. The fact that most of these poor people are only a stone’s throw away makes the situation even more painful. They, like the residents of Cyprus’ Varosha, see their city, and in some cases their old homes, on a daily basis, which means Adgam is always on their mind; they continue to live a nightmare that began nearly 20 years ago. And again, like Varosha, even if they were allowed to go back, to what they would return? The whole town needs to be reconstructed which would cost billions. But to be able to go home, even if it would be to a pile of rubble, as with Varosha, is what they have been waiting and dreaming of all these years. Let’s hope it happens soon.
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