Baku's Vandals Plan to Build the Largest Mosque Next to the Destroyed 'Ghazanchetsots' in Shushi

The "Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhichevan" pan-Armenian union issued a statement highlighting that Azerbaijan's multifaceted policy of appropriation has also spread to Shushi, transitioning into its uncontrolled settlement under the guise of declaring it a cultural center of the Islamic world. The destruction of the Armenian spiritual-cultural environment in Shushi is being paralleled by a radical distortion of Shushi's facade as desired. The Armenian cemetery in Shushi has become a target for road construction, as plans are underway for the construction of Azerbaijan's largest mosque next to the obliterated Green Church, while the Saint Apostles Church is undergoing arbitrary 'reconstruction.' This list can go on indefinitely. This is just a small part of all the crimes committed by various Azerbaijani regimes against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is necessary to remember that in 1920, Khosrov bek Sultanov, under the pretext of the Islamic Novruz holiday, subjected Shushi to the depopulation by a massive army, indiscriminately bombarding it without regard for gender or age, burning down Armenian neighborhoods, and targeting fleeing residents. This was Shushi's first complete depopulation, where the 23,000 Armenian residents either became victims of fire and slaughter or were forced to flee to save their lives. Shushi was once again subjected to depopulation in 1988-1989 as part of the systemic aggression against Armenians by Azerbaijan between 1988 and 1992. Shushi was depopulated again during the 44-day war in 2020.

The inalienable right of the Armenian population of Shushi to return is enshrined in Point 7 of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, which stipulated that "internally displaced persons and refugees will return to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions under the control of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees." Over the past three years, Azerbaijan has not only failed to fulfill its guarantee of the return of refugees to Shushi and other settlements but has also subjected the remaining Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing, with a total of 150,000 Armenians becoming forcibly displaced in recent years. Their right to a safe and internationally guaranteed return cannot be disregarded under any circumstances.

The unilateral settlement of Shushi is yet another indicator of Azerbaijani criminality, complementing the practical implementation of Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian policies. The "Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhichevan" pan-Armenian union condemns the illegal process of settling Nagorno-Karabakh, which severely violates the inalienable right of the ethnically cleansed Armenian population to return and the prospects for its unobstructed realization.

Azerbaijan's lawlessness has transformed into a regional threat, while the arbitrary settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh presents a serious issue pending any control, whereas the return of the Armenian population should occur under the supervision of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. We call on the UN and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to uphold their mandate and take steps to halt the process initiated by Azerbaijan's terrorist regime and to initiate legal proceedings.