Reconciliation with Shusha's occupation impossible
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
The Azerbaijani people will never reconcile with the occupation of Shusha, said Bayram Safarov on May 8, the day of the 23rd anniversary of Shusha's occupation.
The head of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh said Baku's successful policy conducted in regards to the occupied lands' liberation ignited a strong hope among the Azerbaijani people for the soonest resolution of the Nagrono-Karabakh conflict.
"Justice to Khojaly and Freedom to Shusha campaigns played a significant role in this regard," Safarov said.
Shusha, the most strategic part of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region has been occupied by Armenian armed forces following a sudden and vicious armed invasion on May 8, 1992. Still unresolved the conflict in the region has stalled the liberation of Shusha alongside that of other occupied districts.
"Azerbaijan has a worthy place in the international arena, which disturbs neighboring countries. We support the policy carried out by President Ilham Aliyev. Our strong army and people are closely united around the president and it gives us confidence that we will free our occupied lands," Safarov said.
Armenia's occupant forces killed 195 civilians and wounded some 165 people during Shusha's occupation. Over 22,000 were displaced as a result of this brutal campaign. The fate of an estimated 68 Azerbaijani nationals remains unknown to date after they were taken hostage by Armenian troops.
Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory was turned into a battlefield and zone of aggravated tensions after Armenia sent its troops to occupy Azerbaijan's lands in the early 1990s. As a result, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory stands under military occupation of Armenia.
Baku's diligence in view of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is well seen in the international arena, however it is yet to receive relevant feedbacks from Yerevan.
For the past two decades, and despite calls from the international community, Armenia has refused to withdraw its troops and retreat within its national borders.
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