05 January 2022, 12:00

Shusha, the crown of Karabakh is a sacred and dear place for our people. Love for Shusha is an integral part of the spiritual existence of every Azerbaijani.

The city of Shusha, founded in 1752 by Karabakh Khan Panahali Khan, whose 270th anniversary will be celebrated this year, has passed a rich development path and played an exceptional role in the cultural and social-political life of Azerbaijan and the entire South Caucasus.

This city, which has always preserved its unique historical appearance and the unique environment it formed, has written remarkable pages in the annals of our literary, cultural, scientific and social thought with its great personalities.

The rapid development of the city of Shusha in the 70s of the last century is closely related to the name of our National Leader Heydar Aliyev. Special decisions on the development of the city were made at the initiative of the Great Leader. Since that time, construction works in Shusha have expanded, and important steps have been taken to perpetuate the memory of our cultural figures.

Shusha, distinguished by its strategic position, was invaded on May 8, 1992 by the armed forces of Armenia, which started military aggression against Azerbaijan. During the occupation, hundreds of historical and cultural monuments in the city were destroyed as a result of acts of vandalism.

On November 8, 2020, the brave Azerbaijani Army liberated the city of Shusha in the 44-day Patriotic War we waged for the cause of justice. The victory of Shusha, which paved the way for the capitulation of Armenia, became a celebration of the heroic spirit of our people and was engraved in our history as Victory Day.

Immediately after the victory of Shusha, in addition to the construction of infrastructure in the city, the restoration of historical and cultural monuments was started, in order to ensure flexibility and efficiency in the organization of construction works, great attention was paid to state management, and the Shusha City State Reserve Department was established.

In Shusha, which has been declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, huge projects are being implemented today to restore the true historical face of the city. In a short time, the preparation of the Master Plan of Shusha, the restoration of the bust of the mighty poet Molla Panah Vagif and the museum-mausoleum complex to its original appearance, the opening of the house-museum of Bulbul and the statue of Uzeyir Hajibeyli, as well as the process of restoration of historical, religious and architectural monuments here are part of the complex works in the cultural capital of our country. .

The restoration of the tradition of organizing the "Kharibulbul" music festival and the Vagif Poetry Days in front of the magnificent mausoleum of Vagif in the Cidir plain also shows that Shusha is rapidly reviving and returning to its former full cultural life.

Guided by Article 109, Clause 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and taking into account the historical importance and high cultural and spiritual value of Shusha for the people of Azerbaijan, I make a decision:

1. 2022 should be declared the "Year of Shusha" in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

2. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan should prepare and implement a plan of actions related to the "Year of Shusha".

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku city, January 5, 2022