Donate
A person taking a photo of a large, ancient stone archway ruin in a desolate landscape.
DW

An Azerbaijani city rises from ruins

DW reporter Dorian Jones traveled to Aghdam, a haunting ghost city nestled in Azerbaijan’s contested Nagorno-Karabakh region. Once a thriving urban center, the city was reduced to rubble by years of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, leaving virtually nothing standing.

DW & The World

A women takes pictures of ruins with her smartphone in Aghdam, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, a week after the city was been turned over to Azerbaijan’s Army control. Kalbajar was expected to be handed over on Nov. 15, but Azerbaijan agreed to delay the takeover after a request from Armenia. Azerbaijani officials said worsening weather conditions made the withdrawal of Armenian forces and civilians difficult along the single road through mountainous territory that connects the region with Armenia.

Emrah Gurel/AP/File

The Azerbaijani city of Aghdam was razed during fierce fighting in the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Ethnic Armenian forces took control of the city in the early 1990s.

But some ten years later, Azerbaijani forces regained the enclave, forcing most of the over 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.

Three people walking on a dirt road towards a landscape with ruins under a cloudy sky at sunset.
Azerbaijani people look at ruins of Aghdam, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, a week after the city was been turned over to Azerbaijan’s Army control. Kalbajar was expected to be handed over on Nov. 15, but Azerbaijan agreed to delay the takeover after a request from Armenia. Azerbaijani officials said worsening weather conditions made the withdrawal of Armenian forces and civilians difficult along the single road through mountainous territory that connects the region with Armenia. Emrah Gurel/AP/File

Reporter Dorian Jones, from our partners at Deutsche Welle, DW, reports from the ruins.

Click on the player above to hear the full story.

Will you support The World?

The story you just read is not locked behind a paywall because listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World. Can we count on you?