The number of Azerbaijani families returned to Karabakh has exceeded 7,500.
Today, 184 members of Azerbaijani families who fled during the Karabakh conflict returned to the village of Girmizi Bazar and the village of Khanabad. In total, more than 30,000 Azerbaijanis from 7,541 families have returned to the cities and villages of Karabakh.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on February 19, the first group of 154 Azerbaijani displaced persons (38 families) returned to the village of Khanabad in the Khojaly region.
Azerbaijanis from Karabakh settlements were forced to leave their homes after the start of the First Karabakh War. The return of the displaced persons began after Azerbaijan took control of these territories. By December 24, 2025, 6,206 families (24,729 people) had been returned to 31 settlements in the former Karabakh conflict zone.
Today, 20 families of former internally displaced persons (81 people) were sent to the village of Girmizi Bazar in the Khojavend district, and 21 families (103 people) to the village of Khanabad in the Khojaly district, Trend reports.
These families were temporarily resettled in various districts of the republic, mainly in dormitories, sanatoriums, and administrative buildings, APA reports.
Taking into account today's resettlement, 7,541 families (30,261 people) have been returned to 41 settlements in ten districts, writes agency.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in a Baku lyceum dormitory complained about their living conditions. More than 30 families from the Zangelan and Jabrayil districts were housed in the building. The "Caucasian Knot" published a photo report by Aziz Karimov, "Dormitory for IDPs from the Karabakh conflict zone in Baku".
As a reminder, Gırmızı Bazar is the Azerbaijani name for the village of Krasny Bazar (the Armenian toponym is Karmir Shuka), which belonged to the Martuni district of Nagorno-Karabakh (Martuni is the Armenian name for Khojavend). In February 2020, the homes of the village's residents came under fire from the Azerbaijani military, causing people to fear taking their children to kindergarten. Residents complained that their homes were damaged as a result of the shelling. The shelling keeps people in constant fear, and residents' livestock is systematically stolen, the villagers said.
In July of that year, a resident's house was damaged as a result of shelling . The international community should pay attention to Azerbaijan's actions, the Nagorno-Karabakh ombudsman stated at the time.
On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan carried out large-scale military operations and took control of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which began a mass exodus of the Armenian population. By October 7, 2023, 100,632 internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh had arrived in Armenia, and by September 2024, only 14 Armenians remained in the region. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report entitled "The Beginning and End of the Unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".
Azerbaijani IDPs complained about the difficulties of returning to Karabakh. In particular, they noted a shortage of jobs in Fizuli. People are looking for opportunities to return to their homelands, but property issues in the territories under Azerbaijani control have not yet been resolved, the IDPs noted.
Azerbaijani analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" pointed out that simply providing housing to IDPs returning to their cities is not enough. The authorities must create jobs and build infrastructure, they emphasized.