The Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, once a vibrant area of cultural and economic significance, still bears the scars of nearly three decades of Armenian occupation. In the early 1990s, the Armed Forces of Armenia occupied approximately 20% of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognised territory, including the Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts. The in 2020 liberated region is facing multiple reconstruction challenges.
By Vasif Huseynov
Karabakh remained under Armenian control until its complete liberation by Azerbaijan in 2020 and 2023, achieved through military operations that ended the illegal occupation. Although now liberated, the region remains largely uninhabitable.
The occupation left behind widespread destruction, displaced hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis, and turned the area into one of the most heavily mined regions in the world. Today, Azerbaijan faces the monumental task of rebuilding these territories while addressing the profound humanitarian and financial challenges left in the occupation’s wake.
Devastation and the Landmine Crisis
The Armenian occupation inflicted widespread destruction across Karabakh and the surrounding regions. “Everything is devastated – the infrastructure is destroyed, residential and administrative buildings are demolished”, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan declared in his address to the nation after the liberation of the region from Armenian occupation in 2020.
In some settlements, like Fuzuli and Aghdam, the Armenian side even cut down all trees, leaving the landscape desolate, as if no life had ever existed there. Beyond the destruction of residential areas and other infrastructure, even historic religious and cultural monuments were not spared during the occupation.
According to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture, more than 400 cultural or religious monuments were utterly destroyed in this territory during the years of occupation. President Ilham Aliyev has noted that 65 out of 67 mosques in the Karabakh and East Zangezur regions were destroyed, with the remaining two repurposed as animal sheds, a profound insult to Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage.
The U.S. State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, in its 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, confirmed that while the territories were under Armenian control, hundreds of sites belonging to ethnic Azerbaijani communities – including the majority of mosques, shrines, and cemeteries – were subjected to looting, vandalism, desecration, and destruction.
Compounding this destruction is the staggering landmine crisis. Armenian forces planted an estimated 1.5 million landmines across the occupied territories, making Azerbaijan one of the most mine-contaminated countries globally. These “silent killers” were strategically placed to hinder reconstruction and endanger civilian lives.
Since the end of the Second Karabakh War in November 2020, up to 400 Azerbaijanis, including civilians and demining personnel, have been killed or gravely injured by mine explosions. Landmines pose severe humanitarian risks, preventing displaced families from returning home and rendering agricultural lands and infrastructure unusable.
The financial burden of demining is colossal. International experts estimate that clearing the mines could take up to 30 years and cost Azerbaijan approximately $25 billion. Armenia’s refusal to provide accurate minefield maps further complicates these efforts, exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe.
The scale of destruction, coupled with the landmine threat, creates an unprecedented challenge for Azerbaijan. It requires immense resources to restore safety and rebuild communities.
Azerbaijan’s Reconstruction Efforts
Following the 2020 ceasefire, Azerbaijan launched an ambitious reconstruction program to revive the liberated territories. The government allocated over $10 billion to revitalise the region from 2020 to 2024, focusing on infrastructure, housing, and economic reintegration.
Significant projects include the construction of hundreds of kilometres of highways, railways, more than 60 kilometres of tunnels, three international airports in Fuzuli, Zangilan, and Lachin, and many residential complexes.
Towards this purpose, Azerbaijan’s government plans to allocate 20 billion manats (approximately $11.8 billion) over the next five years, representing around 30 per cent of the state’s capital expenditures during this period. These initiatives aim to facilitate the return of displaced Azerbaijanis and stimulate economic growth.
Azerbaijan has also prioritised “smart cities”, sustainable urban planning, and the application of green energy techniques in the new settlements. Cities like Agdam and Zangilan are being rebuilt with modern infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, and residential complexes.
These efforts have enabled the gradual resettlement of displaced Azerbaijanis, with 10,000 former internally displaced persons (IDPs) already returned to the rebuilt areas as of December 31, 2024. The government aims to resettle hundreds of thousands of IDPs, who number up to 700,000 from the first war, in the coming years.
Despite these achievements, the scale of the task remains daunting. The destroyed regions require comprehensive rebuilding, from utilities to cultural sites, while the ongoing landmine threat slows progress. Azerbaijan’s commitment to restoring its territories is evident, but the financial and logistical demands far exceed current resources.
Limited International Assistance
While Azerbaijan shoulders the bulk of the reconstruction burden, international assistance has been minimal relative to the immense needs. Only a handful of states, namely Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, have supported the reconstruction process.
Uzbekistan has built a secondary school, Kazakhstan has built a Children’s Creativity Centre in Fuzuli, and Kyrgyzstan is creating a secondary school in Aghdam. However, no international organisations have provided any assistance to the reconstruction efforts.
The demining process has attracted more attention. Several countries and organisations have provided financial and logistical support to Azerbaijan for mine action, including Germany (€500,000), Belgium (€250,000), China (¥500,000), Italy (€1.5 million), and the UAE ($5 million).
Croatia and the U.S.-based Marshall Legacy Institute have donated mine detection dogs. In mid-April, the European Union announced its plan to allocate €10 million for the International Centre of Excellence and Training for Mine Action for 2024–2025, and the accompanying announcement that this would bring the EU’s total support for demining operations in Azerbaijan to approximately €23 million.
While this assistance is highly appreciated in Azerbaijan, the immense scale of the reconstruction process and its associated humanitarian dimensions call for greater international support. In a way rather detrimental to the peace and post-conflict reconciliation efforts, Armenia rejects any responsibility for the destruction and landmine terror, which are characterised under international humanitarian law as war crimes.
Although Armenia’s direct role in the occupation and destruction of the formerly occupied territories is a well-documented and internationally recognised fact, the country has yet to issue an apology for these actions. Let alone offer compensation, according to Gevork Kostanyan, Armenia’s former Prosecutor General and former representative of Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights.
The compensation Armenia has to pay for this destruction may account for as much as 50 billion dollars. According to the estimates of the Azerbaijani government, the Armenian occupation has incurred more than 100 billion Azerbaijani manats (58,82 billion USD).
The path to recovery in the Karabakh region is long and arduous, marked by the dual burden of massive physical destruction and deep humanitarian suffering. Azerbaijan has made remarkable strides in mobilising resources and launching large-scale reconstruction and resettlement efforts, but the enormity of the challenge demands broader international engagement.
A just and lasting post-conflict recovery process requires technical and financial assistance and moral accountability from those responsible for the devastation. For peace and stability to take root in the South Caucasus, the international community must support Azerbaijan’s reconstruction efforts and uphold the principles of justice, territorial integrity, and post-conflict responsibility.
