The diplomatic corps accredited in the Republic of Azerbaijan paid a visit to the liberated regions on May 31, 2020. Around 80 diplomats and military attachés from more than 50 countries and 10 international organizations took part in the visit to Kalbajar region.
Mr. Vusal Gurbanov, Acting Director General of the Eurasian Regional Center of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF-ERC), who took part in the visit to liberated regions, shared his impressions with “Bizim.Media”:
“Our first impression of Kalbajar was of its splendid nature and tourism potential, and we do believe that Azerbaijan will definitely make use of this opportunity and potential in the future. The Armenian vandalism, as well as the vestiges of their crimes against the Azerbaijani people, was one of the next scenes that we saw. We also spoke with living eyewitnesses of the genocide committed in Kalbajar in 1992 during our stay.”
ICYF-ERC official also noted that he would share what he saw in Kalbajar with the entire organization:
“We will make every effort so Azerbaijani truths could easily be spread across the Islamic world. One of the painful moments was seeing how Armenian forces vandalized the mosques in Kalbajar. Frankly speaking, this made us feel angry and teary. The vandalism acts clearly demonstrate that Armenia’s illegal and inhumane policy targeted not only the Azerbaijani people but its cultural heritage. These actions aimed at terrorizing civilians for being Azerbaijani and Muslim.”
According to Mr. Vusal Gurbanov, these truths must be disseminated in the international community, especially among the youth organizations in the Islamic world:
“In addition, we were impressed with the construction work done in the liberated territories, and we look forward to seeing the Azerbaijani people return to their homes soon.”
Our respondent gave thoughts about the visit that he had heard from other foreign officials:
“We’ve been in touch with a number of OIC ambassadors, including those from Palestine and Pakistan. They also stressed Kalbajar’s tourism potential. The diplomats praised how the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan successfully returned Kalbajar region without firing a single shot.”