Shusha


City in the Nagorno-Karabakh of Azerbaijan. Founded by Panahali Khan of Karabakh in the middle of the 18th century. Since it has become the main political and cultural centre of the Karabakh khanate. It was one of the cultural centres of Azerbaijan during the Russian empire. Shusha is a home for U.Hajibeyov, a famous composer and author of the first opera and musical comedy in the East as well as for Bulbul, a prominent opera singer. Occupied in May 1992 by the Armenian armed forces. Under the Armenian occupation, settled by the Armenians only. The liberation of Shusha is one of the principal issues the Azerbaijani side insists on in the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.