Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has claimed in a TV interview that his forces have retaken Shusha city, a key town in Nagorno-Karabakh.
President Ilham Aliyev announced in a TV interview on Sunday that Azerbaijan had retaken the Shusha region. This town is called Shushi in Armenia.
However, Armenia has denied claims of occupation of the town, saying the fighting is going on.
The capture of this strategically important town would be a major victory during Azerbaijan’s ongoing war in the disputed region.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally part of Azerbaijan but is governed by people of Armenian descent and has Armenian support.
The war between the two countries over the region ended in 1994 without a peace agreement.
Fresh clashes erupted in September this year, with both countries blaming each other.
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Shusha city is located in a mountainous area. The highway connecting Armenia passes through the place where it is located, and it is above its capital. If captured, it could serve as a post for an attack on the capital.
President Ilham Aliyev has said that Shusha’s “independence” will remain historic event in the history of Azerbaijan people.
“No power in the world can stop us,” he said. He also vowed to take Nagorno-Karabakh back to his country.
Shusha is culturally important on both sides. Its population was dominated by Azerbaijanians in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
This area is of great religious significance for the people of Armenia due to the Apostolic Church.
Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of attacking its buildings.
Celebrations in Azerbaijan
People took to the streets in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to celebrate. They were chanting national slogans and waving the national flag.
Reuters reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the people of Azerbaijan as “my Azeri brothers” and expressed hope that “the remaining occupied territories will be liberated soon.”
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