Refugees in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has a large number of internally displaced people and refugees, mostly as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This figure includes around 500,000 people from Nagorno-Karabakh and the previously occupied surrounding regions, in addition to 186,000 from Armenia.

[3][4] Another major wave occurred in November 1988[4] as Azeris were either expelled by the nationalists and local or state authorities[5] or fled fearing for their lives.

[13] During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, territories constituting the former NKAO region of Azerbaijan and the seven adjacent districts (some of them partly) were occupied by the Armenian forces.

[12] In 1944, Meskhetian Turks were deported en masse from Georgia to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin.

[12] Although relations between IDPs and the local population are generally amicable and there is a high level of tolerance among the local population, there are instances of conflicts arising due to the special status of IDPs (such as privileged access to employment, government financial assistance, free health services and property ownership privileges).