Taking a stand for Azerbaijanis

On May 8, 1992, armed forces of Armenia occupied Shusha, a predominantly Azerbaijani-populated city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Carried out within three months of the Khojaly Massacre, the occupation of Shusha became another milestone in Armenia's campaign of aggression and cleansing against the indigenous Azerbaijani heritage and population in Karabakh.

Established in the 18th century as the capital of the independent Karabakh khanate, Shusha was a cradle of Azerbaijani culture, literature and music throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the course of Shusha's 1992 occupation, 480 Azerbaijani civilians were killed, more than 600 people were wounded, and 22,000 residents became internally displaced people. Additionally, 6,800 households, 44 schools, 279 monuments, including the historic GovharAgha Mosque, the museum-house of Uzeyir Hajibeyov, and the memorial of poet Natavan, were destroyed. Shusha remains a ghost town obliterated by the occupying Armenian forces.

I join Azerbaijani- and Turkic-Americans, members of Azerbaijani-American Council, Azerbaijan Society of America, and the Pax Turcica Institute, to denounce the ongoing occupation of Shusha and of other Azerbaijani lands by Armenian forces. I urge elected representatives to pressure Armenian government into abiding with the international law, withdrawing from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and allowing for the return of displaced Azerbaijanis to their homes.

Agshin Taghiyev

Iowa City