Azerbaijan, Baku, May 1 / Trend M. Aliyev /
The Azerbaijani parliament has appealed to the European Parliament, PACE and other international organizations in connection with the 20th anniversary of Shusha's occupation by Armenia.
While reading the appeal, deputy speaker of the parliament Bahar Muradova said that Shusha has a special place in the history of Azerbaijani culture.
"During the aggression Armenian nationalists have repeatedly committed genocide against the Azerbaijani people, including the Khojaly genocide," she said.
The appeal says that the OSCE Minsk Group was created to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan's territorial integrity has been supported by the UN and other international organizations. Armenia was required to put an end to the occupation of Azerbaijani lands. But until now the necessary
determination has not been shown toward the Armenia.
The Azerbaijani parliament calls upon the European Parliament, PACE
and parliaments of the world countries and other bodies that have
contributed to this conflict settlement, to unite their efforts.
"We hope that the international community will demonstrate a strong will and a specific position to resolve this conflict, which is a threat to peace and stability in South Caucasus and throughout Europe and for Armenia to end the occupation policy," the statement says.
Armenian troops carried out a military operation on May 8, 1992 to occupy Shusha. Artillery shots were fired over the city continuing 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 became missing people. Most of them have not been released yet. Nearly 22,000 people became homeless.