Azerbaijan, Baku, May 8 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /
Shusha refugees visited the Alley of Honour in Baku in connection with the 20th anniversary of Shusha's occupation by Armenia.
"The participation of so many people inspires confidence that they are ready to fight to liberate Shusha upon by order of the supreme commander Ilham Aliyev," head of the Shusha region executive power and head of the Public Association of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, Bayram Safarov said. "This proves that the Azerbaijani people are united and organised."
He said that the Azerbaijani people are always ready to obey orders of the president to liberate the territories occupied by Armenia.
"We must return to our native Shusha by all means," he said. "Shusha will be freed from occupation. Today, Azerbaijan has a strong and powerful army. If the supreme commander orders, we will free our lands from occupation rapidly."
Armenian troops carried out a military operation on May 8, 1992 to occupy Shusha. Artillery shots were fired over the city which continued up to 6 pm. Over 1000 Armenian soldiers attacked Shusha from three sides.
Some 248 historical facilities, eight museums, one photo gallery, eight music schools and tens of cultural facilities lie under Armenian occupation in Shusha.
During Shusha's occupation, hundreds of innocent people died, nearly 60 citizens, including women and children were taken prisoners and are missing. Most have not been released yet. Nearly 22,000 people became homeless.