Historical background to the document "From the speech of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev at the meeting with a group of people from Shusha and Lachin (6 May 1996)"


Shusha is a district in the Nagorno-Karabakh province of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Occupied by the Armenian armed forces on May 8, 1992. Its area is 289 sq.km. According to the census of1989, Shusha had a population of 20,579 in number, of which 19,036 were the Azerbaijanis, 1,377 - the Armenians.

Currently inhabited only by the Armenians because of the occupation. During the occupation of Shusha, 200 people became martyrs, 150 were disabled. Furthermore, 200 historical monuments, two sanatoria, house museums of the prominent cultural figures, a 70-seat tourist facility, a 1,200-seat boarding school were destroyed. Liberation of Shusha is one of the key issues for Azerbaijan in the negotiations on the solution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Lachin is a district in south-west of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Its area is 1,835 sq.km., population - 68,500. Occupied by the Armenian armed forces on May 8, 1992.

A bus station, 125 villages and settlements, 149 schools, 2 pre-school and 5 extra school educational facilities, a technical vocational school, 85 clubs, 119 libraries, 5 music schools, 142 health centers, 3 television stations and transmitters and other facilities were captured by the Armenians. As a result of the occupation 264 people were murdered, 65 taken hostages and 103 were disabled.

“90 Instants of the Great leader”, Heydar Aliyev Heritage research center, “Sharq-Qarb”, Baku-2013, p.72