Azerbaijanis displaced by the Karabakh conflict wish to return home
Internally displaced Azerbaijanis, caught in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over occupied Karabakh, continue to live in shelters where they struggle to make ends meet.
An Azerbaijani woman (pictured in the background) throws up her arms in despair as she and other women flee Armenian shelling on the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. March 13, 1992.
More than a million refugees and displaced people live in Azerbaijan - that's more than 10 percent of the entire population.
Most of them were forced out by the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over occupied Karabakh, which ended in a ceasefire in 1994. But a lasting settlement still hasn't been reached, and many still want to return home.
The district of Yasamal is an area full of people who fled fighting in occupied Karabakh.
Kathria is one of them. She was forced leave 25 years ago when Armenian forces took over her home city. Previously a librarian, Kathira now earns a living by making curtains.
"Just one day before Armenian troops arrived in our city, we got instructions to evacuate. We didn't manage to take any of our belongings with us. It was like we had to leave naked," she said.
TRT World's correspondent Andrew Hopkins reports from Baku.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.