BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 11. Azerbaijan’s Shusha, liberated from the Armenian occupation in 2020, is rapidly reviving and returning to life, Trend reports.
Shusha, the pearl of Azerbaijan and the cradle of culture is now living a new life.
The Armenians claimed that this city is a "very important and significant place" for them. But why was the city devastated by Armenians during the years of occupation? Why haven't they implemented any infrastructure or construction projects there, except for the construction of one or two villas? Houses and buildings built in Soviet times were also destroyed.
The Armenians did not build and did not want to build anything in the city, because they understood that Shusha was rejecting them. Every stone of the city erupted hatred for the occupier. Now Shusha is coming back to life.
"Shusha occupies a special place in the history of Azerbaijan. This is our ancient historical city. Azerbaijanis have lived and created in Shusha for centuries. Shusha is the pearl not only of Azerbaijan but also of the entire Caucasus. However, the despicable enemy, keeping Shusha under occupation, inflicted a great blow on our cultural heritage, destroyed our historical monuments, destroyed and desecrated our mosques. Now we are back in Shusha. We will restore all our historical monuments and mosques. After 28 years, the azan will be distributed again in Shusha," the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said in an address to the Azerbaijani people on November 8, 2020.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev raised the National Flag of Azerbaijan in Shusha after the liberation from occupation.
The restoration of the city of Shusha, as well as other liberated lands of Azerbaijan, is proceeding very rapidly.
Our monuments, shot by Armenians during the occupation, busts of great figures of culture and art of the Azerbaijani people Khurshidbanu Natavan, Uzeyir Hajibeyli and Bulbul were returned to the city.
Azerbaijan’s Shusha was declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan on May 7, 2021.
Shusha with its cultural, historical, architectural, and urban planning traditions has been the pearl of Azerbaijan for centuries.
Repair and restoration work began in Shusha after the liberation. Roads were laid, then infrastructure and energy facilities, water supply were built. To solve the problem of supplying the city with drinking water, a temporary water pumping station was built in the village of Dashalty. Then, a 9.4-kilometer main water pipeline was laid from the source of Kichik Kirs to Shusha.
A little more time passed and the 110/35/10-kilovolt electric substation "Shusha", and the hotels "Kharibulbul" and "Karabakh" were built and put into operation.
Last year, one of the symbols of the city was restored - the spring of the Khan's daughter, built-in 1873 at the expense of Khurshidbanu Natavan and destroyed by the Armenians during the occupation.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, and President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan, First Lady Emine Erdogan visited the spring of the Khan's daughter on June 15, 2021.
The historical significance of the Turkish leader's visit to the city was not only that he was the first head of a foreign state to visit the liberated Shusha. During this visit, the historic Shusha Declaration of Alliance between Azerbaijan and Türkiye was signed, which raised relations between Baku and Ankara to the highest level.
The declaration, which covers all spheres of interstate relations, pays special attention to joint activities in the fields of defense and industry of defense, as well as mutual military assistance of countries to ensure each other's security.
In May of 2021, for the first time after liberation from occupation, the Kharibulbul music festival was held in Azerbaijan’s Shusha, which became a significant event.
Thus, Azerbaijan’s Karabakh, which throughout history has been considered the "conservatory of the Caucasus", is being revived.
The museum-mausoleum complex and the bust of Molla Panakh Vagif, the house-museum of People's Artist Bulbul and the monument to the brilliant composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli have been restored in Shusha.
No matter how hard the Armenian occupiers tried, no matter what heinous actions they committed, they failed to destroy the Azerbaijani spirit of the city of Shusha.
At the end of August last year, Vagif Poetry Days were held in Shusha, and Uzeyir Hajibeyli's birthday was celebrated on September 18, which is celebrated as National Music Day.
The mosques "Saatli", "Yukhary Govharagha" and "Ashagi Govharagha" have been restored.
Secondary school No.1, a tunnel on the Ahmadbeyli-Fizuli-Shusha road, a new hotel and conference center in the city, 7 boiler houses with a total capacity of 7270 kilowatts built and commissioned by the company "Azeristiliktejhizat", an underground cable with a length of 30 km. All these are among the newly built facilities.
Among the important projects is the restoration of the Topkhana Forest, which suffered from ecocide during the Armenian occupation. Thousands of trees have been planted in this forest, which occupies about 20 percent of the territory of the Shusha district.
While speaking about the restoration and reconstruction works in Shusha, it is impossible not to mention the legendary "Shusha Road" laid by our soldiers during the 44-day Second Karabakh War.
The length of the modern highway, which President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev called the "Victory Road", is now 101 kilometers: it starts from the Hajigabul-Minjivan-Zangezur corridor highway and passes through Azerbaijan’s Fizuli, Khojavend, Khojaly and Shusha districts.
A new residential area consisting of 6 blocks is being built in Azerbaijan’s Shusha. The population by quarters is about 2,000 people, which is indicated in the general plan of the city.
There will be 25 buildings in the blocks with a total area of 46,765 square meters.
Some 3, 4 and 5-story buildings will be built in the architectural style inherent in Azerbaijan’s Shusha in the first quarter. It is going to build 17.6 kilometers of new roads in the city. The general plan of Shusha also defines the locations of public parking lots.
During the development of the master plan, it was also envisaged the construction of "green corridors" in order to preserve and develop green spaces and landscapes in accordance with the relief of the city.
The huge volume of repair, restoration and reconstruction works carried out in Shusha over the past two years, the intensity and scale of these works are a vivid example of the purposeful policy pursued by the head of the Azerbaijani state to turn the pearl of Karabakh into one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
The revival and return to life of Azerbaijan's Shusha is a symbol of the obvious reality: Karabakh is Azerbaijan!