Kifayet Suleymanova - Going Home After 27 Years

Kifayet Suleymanova is one of Azerbaijan’s former 700 000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). In 1993, she was forcibly driven out by Armenian forces from her childhood home in Zanglilan, Azerbaijan. Before her family fled, her father made a secret dug-out shelter in the hill next to their home to hide from the artillery fire. When they finally decided to leave, they put their belongings there. Thinking they would return in a couple of months they sealed it off with stones so it looked like a regular wall. Ms. Suleymanova was able to travel back to Zangilan together with her siblings, to see what remained, if anything. As a result of the Second Karabakh War, which ended on Nov 9-10, 2020, Azerbaijan took back the control of Zangilan. Now former IDPs are dreaming of rebuilding their lives with real hope. This video shows one family’s journey back after 27 years of waiting.