Shushi

Historical center of Artsakh (Karabakh) situated on a mountain plateau (1400m), 10 km from Stepanakert. Initially an inaccessible fortress, Shushi became city in the middle of the 19th century. Its rapid growth made it an important Armenian center. The population of Shushi was 60,000 in 1920, of which Armenians made up 47,000. Of 22 newspapers and periodicals published in Shushi, 20 were published in Armenian language and 2 were published in Russian.
In March 1920, during the Turkish aggression the Armenian part of Shushi was burned to the ground; 30,000 Armenians out of 47,000 were killed. The Soviet-Azeri rule marked the rapid azerbanization of the city.
From the beginning of the military conflict in 1991, the Azeri forces made use of the strategic geographical location of Shushi utilizing its commanding heights for the mass bombing of Stepanakert and its outskirts. On May 9, 1992 Shushi was liberated by the Karabakh defense forces.

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