Nine Azerbaijani families have returned to the former Karabakh conflict zone.
Twenty-nine members of Azerbaijani families who fled during the Karabakh conflict have returned to five villages in the Khojaly district. They were given the keys to their homes.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on May 16, 10 families of former internally displaced persons returned to the village of Badara Khojaly district, 10 families to Tezebina, and nine families to Khanabad. Four more families each returned to the villages of Ballicha, Khanyurd, and Dashbulag.
Azerbaijanis from Karabakh settlements were forced to leave their homes after the start of the First Karabakh War. The return of Azerbaijani displaced persons began after Azerbaijan took control of these territories. By March 11, 2026, 7,541 families (30,261 people) had returned to 41 settlements in the former Karabakh conflict zone.
On May 26, nine families (29 people) of former internally displaced persons returned to five villages in the Khojaly region, APA reports.
Two families (9 people) were resettled to the village of Khanabad, two families (4 people) to the village of Badara, one person to the village of Ballicha, a family of three to the village of Tezebina, and three families (12 people) to the village of Khanyurdu, the agency writes.
In 2024, residents of the town of Khojaly (Armenian name - Ivanyan) for the first time since 1992 were able to commemorate their fallen relatives on their native soil. On the night of February 26, 1992, during the Karabakh conflict, Armenian armed forces, with the assistance of CIS Joint Forces (who are believed to have acted without orders), stormed Khojaly, a town populated predominantly by Azerbaijanis. According to Azerbaijani authorities, 613 civilians were killed, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Khojaly Tragedy".
The displaced persons were given keys to their homes. They settled "in fully renovated houses equipped with modern infrastructure," Report writes.
As a reminder, Azerbaijani residents who returned to Karabakh told the "Caucasian Knot" that they are settling in and finding work. Despite ongoing problems with employment and infrastructure, the displaced persons report improved living conditions.
Each house was allocated a 12-hectare plot of land.
For example, Rashid Aliyev, whose family returned to the village of Khidirli in the Aghdam region in the summer of 2025, reported that his retired parents were provided with a separate two-room house, while he, his wife, and three children were given a three-room house. "Each house was allocated a 12-hectare plot of land. Some planted flowers, others trees. But most, like me, created mini-farms for livestock. I built a barn and a chicken coop. I have four cows, a bull, a dozen rams, twenty chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys. The conditions here are excellent for livestock farming," Aliyev said.
Internally displaced persons living in a lyceum dormitory in Baku complained about their living conditions. More than 30 families from the Zangilan and Jabrayil districts were housed in the building. The "Caucasian Knot" published a photo report by Aziz Karimov, "A Dormitory for Internally Displaced Persons from the Karabakh Conflict Zone in Baku."
Earlier, Azerbaijani IDPs complained about the difficulties of returning to Karabakh. In particular, they noted a shortage of jobs in Fuzuli. People are seeking opportunities to return to their homelands, but IDPs say property issues in the territories under Azerbaijani control have not yet been resolved.
Azerbaijani analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted that simply providing housing to returning IDPs is not enough; the authorities must create jobs and build infrastructure.
On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan launched large-scale military operations and took control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which began a mass exodus of the Armenian population. By October 7, 2023, 100,632 IDPs 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".
In November 2023, shortly after the end of hostilities, Azerbaijani authorities announced plans to return 34,500 families (140,000 people) to the former Karabakh conflict zone by the end of 2026. Despite the construction of roads, energy facilities, and housing, the pace of resettlement is constrained by mine danger, a lack of jobs, and unresolved land use issues, analysts noted in April 2026.