Azerbaijan to restore Shusha after 28 years of Armenian occupation

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Work is underway to restore Azerbaijan’s historic Shusha city in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Evaluation and inventory work in the city is underway as part of the restoration and reconstruction measures in line with President Ilham Aliyev’s order, Azertag has reported.

The working group, which will initially number up to 60 people, including representatives of the Culture Ministry, State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture, Azersu, State Road Agency, Azerishig, Azerenergy and Baku Landscaping Sevice, that will work on 6 main directions, have been given relevant instructions with the involvement of specialist from various fields.

It is planned to conduct an initial assessment and inventory of the current state of infrastructure, land and other properties in Shusha, which is Azerbaijan’s cultural capital and the pearl of the whole Caucasus.

One of the important tasks of the working group is to prepare comprehensive proposals for the assessment and restoration of the territorial and urban development of Shusha, especially the current state of historical, cultural and religious monuments, including the sustainability of buildings, architectural appearance, roads and other infrastructure.

Additionally, targeted measures will be taken to systematically restore the Shusha city, historical and religious monuments and museums with the preservation of the ancient historical-architectural style.

As a result of the reconstruction work, which will be carried out in a short time, Shusha will take its rightful place in the list of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Shusha was the last of Azerbaijan’s cities to be liberated from the Armenian occupation in the war that lasted from September 27 to November 10. The 44-day-war ended with the Kremlin-brokered peace deal signed between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia.

The peace agreement became effective on November 10 and envisages de-occupation of Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions by December 1 as well as the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven adjacent regions under the control of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan's breakaway region that along with seven adjacent regions came under the Armenian occupation in the war in the early 1990s. For about three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian troops, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict.