24 years passed since occupation of Shusha

On 8 May 2016, 24 years passed since the occupation of the Azerbaijani town of Shusha by the Armenian armed forces. Fighting over Shusha left 480 Azerbaijanis killed, 1860 wounded, and almost 22'000 displaced. There is still no news about the fate of 68 missing persons from Shusha.

The area of Shusha was 289 square kilometres and its population was nearly 24'900. A mass looting following town's occupation led to total sacking of Shusha History Museum, which once boasted of its nearly 5000 displays and exhibits, as well as the Shusha Branch of the State Carpet Museum, Public Applied Art Museum, Karabakh State History Museum and a number of picture galleries by the Armenian military. Furthermore, religious sites and mosques were desecrated and some were razed to ground, libraries were burnt and manuscripts destroyed. Among the destroyed 279 religious, historical and cultural monuments were such unique sites like Khan's Grotto, Gakhal Grotto, and Shusha Castle. Armenian armed forces further destroyed 7 infant schools, 22 secondary schools, a number of vocational schools, 8 cultural centres, 14 clubs, 20 libraries, 2 cinemas, and a factory of oriental music instruments. At present, people displaced from Shusha were scattered over in 55 districts of Azerbaijan.

It is more than 22 years that 20 percent of the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan is under occupation of Armenian which ignores 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council, as well as the resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Armenia seeks to maintain the status quo, extend the occupation and undermine the peace talks in spite of numerous appeals from the international community and Azerbaijan's demands from Armenia to give up the military occupation. While being committed to the peaceful settlement of the conflict, which Azerbaijan stated on numerous occasions, she will use all means under the international law to end the Armenian military aggression.