Shusha city liberated from Armenia's occupation: Azerbaijan

ANKARA

The Azerbaijani city of Shusha has been liberated from the occupation of Armenian forces, the country's leader announced on Nov. 8.

In a televised address to the nation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that the town had been captured.

"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.

"Shusha is ours, Karabakh is ours,'' he added.

Flag-waving Azerbaijanis took to the streets of the capital Baku to celebrate after Aliyev's announcement.

Shusha was occupied by Armenia on May 8, 1992.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has congratulated Azerbaijan and its President İlham Aliyev for the liberation of Shusha, a strategic town in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Rejoice of our Azerbaijani brothers over step by step liberating its cities under occupation and Nagorno-Karabakh is our rejoice,” Erdoğan said at the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) convention in Kocaeli on Nov. 8.

Erdoğan recalled that Azerbaijani forces have already liberated many of its lands in the region, and capturing Shusha means the victory of the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region is very close. “Turkey has been siding with Azerbaijan in its struggle to liberate its territories from the very beginning and will continue to do so,” he added