Azerbaijan Says Liberated Key Town of Shusha
BAKU (Dispatches) -- Azerbaijan said Sunday its forces had liberated the key town of Shusha from Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia insisted that fighting for the strategically vital area was ongoing.
The liberation of Shusha would be a major victory for Azerbaijan six weeks after new fighting erupted over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani enclave that seceded in the 1990s.
The fortress town sits on cliffs around 15 kilometers (nine miles) from Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city of Khankendi which Armenian separatists call Stepanakert and on the main road through the region to the territory of Armenia, which backs the separatists.
Both sides have reported fierce clashes around the town in recent days, after Azerbaijani forces swept across the southern flank of Nagorno-Karabakh and pushed through its mountain passes.
In a televised address to the nation on Sunday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that the town had been liberated.
"With great pride and joy, I inform you that the town of Shusha has been liberated,” said Aliyev, dressed in military fatigues and standing in front of an Azerbaijani flag.
He said November 8 would "go down in the history of the Azerbaijani people” as the day "we returned to Shusha”.
"Our liberation march continues. We will go to the end, until the complete liberation of the occupied territories,” Aliyev said.
Flag-waving Azerbaijanis took to the streets of the capital Baku to celebrate after Aliyev’s announcement.
Armenian officials confirmed there were heavy clashes for the town but said the battle was far from over.
Armenian defense ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said there was "the most ferocious combat” overnight for the town.
The new clashes broke out in late September between Azerbaijan and the Armenia-backed separatists over Karabakh, which declared its independence nearly 30 years ago.
That declaration has not been recognized internationally, even by Armenia, and it remains
a part of Azerbaijan under international law.
The recent flare-up has been the worst in decades, with more than 1,000 people confirmed dead including dozens of civilians, although the death toll is believed to be much higher.
Fighting has continued despite several attempts by Russia, France and the United States to help reach a lasting ceasefire.
The three countries make up the "Minsk Group” of mediators that helped broker a truce between the ex-Soviet rivals in 1994 but have failed to find a lasting solution to the long-simmering conflict.
Azerbaijan has the upper hand in the bloodiest fighting in more than 25 years in the South Caucasus. In just over a month, it has retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it lost in a previous war over the territory in the 1990s.
Turkish leaders congratulated Azerbaijan on Sunday.
"I congratulate my Azeri brothers’ Shusha victory... I believe it is a sign that the rest of the occupied lands will be liberated soon too,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, addressing crowds in Turkey’s northwestern province of Kocaeli.
The city could serve as a key staging post for an Azeri push on Khankendi. Both have come under heavy shelling in recent days. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said allegations that it had shelled civilian areas were ‘misinformation’.
Shusha’s population was predominantly made up of Azeris before the previous conflict, making it historically significant for Azerbaijan.
The liberation of Shusha would be a major victory for Azerbaijan six weeks after new fighting erupted over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani enclave that seceded in the 1990s.
The fortress town sits on cliffs around 15 kilometers (nine miles) from Nagorno-Karabakh’s main city of Khankendi which Armenian separatists call Stepanakert and on the main road through the region to the territory of Armenia, which backs the separatists.
Both sides have reported fierce clashes around the town in recent days, after Azerbaijani forces swept across the southern flank of Nagorno-Karabakh and pushed through its mountain passes.
In a televised address to the nation on Sunday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that the town had been liberated.
"With great pride and joy, I inform you that the town of Shusha has been liberated,” said Aliyev, dressed in military fatigues and standing in front of an Azerbaijani flag.
He said November 8 would "go down in the history of the Azerbaijani people” as the day "we returned to Shusha”.
"Our liberation march continues. We will go to the end, until the complete liberation of the occupied territories,” Aliyev said.
Flag-waving Azerbaijanis took to the streets of the capital Baku to celebrate after Aliyev’s announcement.
Armenian officials confirmed there were heavy clashes for the town but said the battle was far from over.
Armenian defense ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said there was "the most ferocious combat” overnight for the town.
The new clashes broke out in late September between Azerbaijan and the Armenia-backed separatists over Karabakh, which declared its independence nearly 30 years ago.
That declaration has not been recognized internationally, even by Armenia, and it remains
a part of Azerbaijan under international law.
The recent flare-up has been the worst in decades, with more than 1,000 people confirmed dead including dozens of civilians, although the death toll is believed to be much higher.
Fighting has continued despite several attempts by Russia, France and the United States to help reach a lasting ceasefire.
The three countries make up the "Minsk Group” of mediators that helped broker a truce between the ex-Soviet rivals in 1994 but have failed to find a lasting solution to the long-simmering conflict.
Azerbaijan has the upper hand in the bloodiest fighting in more than 25 years in the South Caucasus. In just over a month, it has retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it lost in a previous war over the territory in the 1990s.
Turkish leaders congratulated Azerbaijan on Sunday.
"I congratulate my Azeri brothers’ Shusha victory... I believe it is a sign that the rest of the occupied lands will be liberated soon too,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, addressing crowds in Turkey’s northwestern province of Kocaeli.
The city could serve as a key staging post for an Azeri push on Khankendi. Both have come under heavy shelling in recent days. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said allegations that it had shelled civilian areas were ‘misinformation’.
Shusha’s population was predominantly made up of Azeris before the previous conflict, making it historically significant for Azerbaijan.