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Armenia Denies Claim Azerbaijan Captured Key City in Nagorno-Karabakh

VOA News

   Azerbaijan hasannounced the captureof a keycity in the
   Nagorno-Karabakhenclave, but Armenia has denied the claim.

   Speaking tothe nationon televisionSunday, Azerbaijan's PresidentIlham
   Aliyevsaid that Azerbaijani forces had taken Shushi (Shusha in Azeri),
   the second-largestcityin the disputed territory.

   "The city of Shusha has been liberated from occupation. Shusha is ours.
   Karabakh is ours,"Aliyev said, adding that his country will continue
   its fightuntil Armenian forceswithdraw from the territory.

   Aliyev's statement prompted celebration inAzerbaijan's capital, Baku,
   where people
   werewavingflagsandchantingslogans,anddriverssoundedtheircarhorns.

   TheArmenian Defense Ministry denied thatShushiwascaptured butconfirmed
   heavy fighting in and around the city.

   Aministry spokesman,ArtsrunOvannisian,said late Sunday that fighting in
   and around Shushi was continuing. "Neither side fully owns the
   initiative,"Ovannisiansaid.

   Officials from the Nagorno-Karabakh regionalsodenied Aliyev's
   statement.

   "Shushi remains an unattainable pipe dream for Azerbaijan. Despite
   heavy destruction, the fortress city withstands the blows of the
   enemy," the Nagorno-Karabakhemergencies committeesaid.

   Thecommittee also reported strong fighting in other parts of
   theenclave, including the large eastern town ofMartuni.

   Shushi, a strategic cityinNagorno-Karabakhabout 10 kilometers south of
   the region's capital of Stepanakert,lies along the main road
   connectingthe enclavewith Armenia.

   Shushihas alsocultural significance for Azerbaijan,asit was once
   thecenter ofitsculture, wherenotedmusiciansand poetslived.

   The ongoing fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia
   eruptedonSeptember27 and hasclaimed at least 1,000 lives,marking
   thelargest escalation of the decades-old conflict overthebreakaway
   region of Nagorno-Karabakh.'¯'¯'¯'¯'¯'¯'¯

   The predominantly ethnic Armenian territory declared its independence
   from Azerbaijan in 1991 during the collapse of the Soviet Union,
   sparking a war that claimed the lives of as many as 30,000 people
   before a 1994 cease-fire.'¯However, that independence is not
   internationally recognized.

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