Twenty four years have passed since the occupation of Azerbaijan's Lachin district by Armenia.
63,341 Azerbaijani citizens were driven out their home lands as a result of the occupation. More than 300 servicemen and civilians were killed or missing during the occupation of the Lachin district.
The Lachin district includes 121 villages with a total area of 1835 square kilometers. There are 8950 buildings, 7 industrial and construction enterprises, 471 service facilities, 154 schools and hundreds of cultural and historical monuments left in the occupied lands.
On May 8, 1992, after the occupation of Shusha, the Armenian armed forces, having occupied settlements around Lachin, opened intensive artillery fire at the district's center.
On a night from May 16 to 17, 1992, starting their occupation from the place named Turshsu (Shusha city) and the Gor district of Armenia, the Armenian armed forces occupied the Lachin district. Majority of the enemy forces could get into the region through the Lachin corridor.
At that time, the key part of the Azerbaijani armed forces withdrawn from Lachin and surrounding regions, were fighting the political confrontation in the capital city of the country. The army taking part in the military demonstrations in Baku did not have a control over the positions in the frontline, which resulted in the occupation of the Lachin district. The occupation of the Lachin region, which is of great strategic significance, caused a serious blow to Azerbaijan's economy.
Recall, on the night of April 2 all frontier positions of Azerbaijan were exposed to heavy fire from large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. In addition, Azerbaijani settlements near the front line, densely populated by civilians, were shelled.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20% of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US, are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
