Azerbaijani soldier writes New History of Shusha

Finally, the day of days arrived, and the expected news refreshed our spirits. We got our hands on our country, returned home. Shusha was liberated. The people of Azerbaijan have been waiting for this day for more than 28 years. Shusha is a matter of identity and spirit for Azerbaijanis. Therefore, along with Shusha, our national spirit was liberated from the inferiority complex of 28 years. Shusha has a special place in the evolution of the national identity of the Azerbaijani people. The holy war waged by the Azerbaijani army for this city was a life-and-death battle not only for the land, for a city that has been the cradle of art and culture, but also for national honor and dignity, for national self-respect. In this war of honor and dignity, in the struggle for national self-respect, the Azerbaijani army has given new examples to history, the Azerbaijani soldier has renewed the national spirit, smoothed the nation's bent stature, which was the inferiority complex of 28 years.

Why was our nation, especially our youth, ready to die for Shusha? Because a certain part of our history, culture, literature, ideology, self-respect, our pride as a nation is connected with Shusha. Shusha is not only located on a mountain peak but also during the three-century historical period, the way of the Azerbaijani people to summit passed through Shusha. For more than 28 years, we have longed for this summit in terms of national and spiritual needs. Today we have reached the summit we long for. As it is said in Akif Islamzadeh's heartfelt performance to these verses of Dilsuz Mustafayev, which was composed by Javanshir Guliyev, for many years:

Bura Vətəndir, (This is the motherland,)
Gülü bitəndir, (Where the flower grows,)
Əlim çatandır, (Which I can reach,)
Ünüm yetəndir, (Where my voice reaches,)
Bura Vətəndir!.. (This is the motherland!..)

Bura Şuşadır, (This is Shusha,)
Gözəl Şuşadır. (It is beautiful Shusha.)
Üzmə gülünü, (Don’t pick its flower,)
Gülü qoşadır. (Its flower is a twin.)

For 28 years, the twin flower of beautiful Shusha had been plucked by the enemy, and the disreputable enemy made the Khari-bulbul (lat. Óphrys sphegodes subsp. mammosa [syn. Ophrys caucasica, ophrys Persica]) longed for this flower. The famous Khari-bulbul of Shusha was the resounding voice of the whole life of Karabakh. This voice had been silent for 28 years, and no one could have imagined that the Khari-bulbul could sing with the Armenian throat, which is alien to the nature, history, and spirit of Shusha. After all, Armenians do not have those vocal cords and timbre. Namely, the Khari-bulbul has a special natural role and place in calling Shusha the "Conservatory of the Caucasus".

As a rule, cities are built on the plains, in the foothills of a mountain. Shusha was built not on the foothills of a mountain, but on the mountaintop. This city, of which one side was a fortress and other sides were protected by natural fortifications, was built in 1752 by Panahali Khan as the center and capital of the newly formed Karabakh Khanate. Every stone of it, the rugged rocks guarding the city, the steep paths, which was close for the enemy, are imprinted in the genetic memory of Azerbaijanis. For 28 years, we have lost this memory, as well as the unique natural landscapes of Shusha, which have been forever engraved in our memory. The liberation of Shusha is not only the restoration of territorial integrity but also the restoration of national and spiritual memory.

On this historic day, the hot life of Shusha, its unique nature, Firang Ahmad's (Ahmed Bey Hasan Bey Oglu Agayev-public figure of Azerbaijan and Turkey. He was born in 1869 in Shusha and died in 1939 in Istanbul)  dreams of modernization in an urban environment reminiscent of "Little Paris" pass before our eyes like a film.

There were 17 neighborhoods (mahallas) in Shusha: Seyidli, Julfalar, Guyulug, Chukhur mahalla, Dord chinar, Dordlar gurdu, Haji Yusifli, Chol gala, Gurdlar, Saatli, Kocharli, Mamayi, Khoja Marjanli, Damirchilar Hamamgabaghi, Merdinli, and Taza mahalla. Each neighborhood had its own bath, its own mosque, and its own spring. Shusha Fortress, unique Khan Palaces, Upper and Lower Govhar Agha Mosques, house of Khan gizi (khan's daughter) Natavan, Shusha market, shops along the cobbled streets gave a special beauty to the city. The Jidir Plain on the outskirts of the city, the Isa spring, which witnessed many ceremonies, the heart-warming Turshsu pastures, and the Dashalti river, which hummed at the edge of the fortress, created a natural harmony with Shusha.

Who did not cross the paved streets of Shusha? Who did not drink water from the Isa spring, the Sakili spring, the Shamil spring? Who did not ride a horse on the Jidir Plain? Whose zangulas (mugham type), which was bringing compassion to the hearts of Karabakh, were not heard from the Navvab ceremony, from the Mahmud Agha corner, from the Mashadi Malik Mansurov hall, accompanied by Sadigja? Whose hearts were not conquered by whose voice and words in the poetry nights of "Majlisi Faramushan" and "Majlisi Uns" accompanied by mugam scenes? Panahali Khan, Ibrahimkhalil Khan, Molla Panah Vagif, Gasim bey Zakir, Mirza Adigozal bey, Khurshidbanu Natavan, Mirza Jamal Javashir, Abdulla bey Asi, Mir Mohsun Navvab, Haji Husu, Mashadi Isi, Shahnaz Abbas, Bulbuljan, Fatma khanim Kamina, Mirza Sadig (Sadigjan), Najaf bey Vazirov, Hashim bey Vazirov, Karim bey Mehmandarov, Gamar bey Sheyda, Mirza Rahim Fana, Jabbar Qaryaghdioglu, Kechachi oglu Mammad, Kharrat Gulu, Kor Khalfa, Mashadi Jamil Amirov, Ahmad bey Aghaoglu, Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev, Firudin bey Kocharli, Islam Abdullayev, Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli, brothers Jeyhun bey and Uzeyir bey, Zulfu Adgozalov, Seyid Shushinski, Bulbul, Munavvar khanim Rzayeva, Khan Shushinsky, and more others! Whose works have not been staged in Shusha theaters? Mirza Fatali's "Haji Gara", "Monsieur Jordan and the dervish Mastali Shah", "Khirs Guldurbasan", Abdurrahim bey's "Destroyed Family" ("Dağılan tifaq"), Shakespeare's "Othello" directed by Hashim bey Vazirov found their first audience in Azerbaijan in Shusha. As the first educational institutions, there were madrassas, a real school with 6 classes, and a printing house in the city. Shusha had a large and rich library. Many rare manuscripts were kept there. As one of the cultural centers of Azerbaijan, Shusha had a great charitable tradition.

Look. The Armenians intended to take this national and cultural wealth from us and adapt us to its absence. They wanted to deprive us of this national and cultural treasure by building a church in Shusha after the occupation and planting a cross on every rock. They wanted to turn this beautiful and mysterious city into their business card. Their desires and dreams remained in their eyes. Immediately after the occupation, they began intensive work to armenianize the city of Shusha, and established various foundations, including foreign Armenian organizations. The patch "Jraberd wall" was painted on the walls of the historical fortress of Shusha. They organized Armenian language classes for foreign Armenians here, built a hotel complex around Isa spring and Jidir Plain to attract them to the name of "homeland", built a church as a place of worship in the occupied city, planned to establish a national Armenian museum in the city, opened branches of their universities in Shusha, and sent historical and ethnographic expeditions to the city that did not belong to them. Even the Armenian Committee of Ministers made a shameless decision on "research and publication of Iranian monuments" in Shusha. Nikol Pashinyan deepened all this cultural aggression by performing yalli dance with the "Kochari" song on the Jidir Plain, getting drunk and falling asleep at the Isa spring, by opening the "Suspension Bridge" accompanied by trumpeters, with absurd claims such as moving the so-called "capital" of Artsakh to Shusha. And it has deepened so much that now it is dependent on the "Suspension Bridge".

Finally, Shusha is a matter of history for Azerbaijanis, a history that has nothing to do with Armenians. The city was built by Muslim khans and became the capital of the Karabakh Khanate consisting of Turks and Muslims. At all stages of history, Shusha retained the function of being the cradle of Turkish-Muslim culture, and even banknotes reflecting the attributes of the khanate were minted in this city. When the city's coat of arms was adopted in May 1843, it featured flames between the shield's divided shields and a brown horse saddled on a green lawn below. It was a symbol of the legendary Karabakh racehorses racing in Shusha, on the Jidir Plain. Such a symbol that it had nothing to do with Armenia.

Shusha, which is the pearl of history, was severely damaged and destroyed in 1905, 1920, and 1992. All three of these destructions are connected with the atrocities of the nationalist Armenians. The Azerbaijani people have made great sacrifices to protect Shusha. May the souls of the sons of the fatherland who gave their lives for this holy city in the bloody battles of 1992, including the National Hero Ramiz Gambarov, rejoice. Today, the Azerbaijani soldier is writing a new history of Shusha at the expense of his blood and soul, today the Azerbaijani army is creating a new history of Shusha with its bravery, today the Azerbaijani soldiers are deciding the fate of Shusha with their determination. And once and for all, forever!