Large-scale restoration and reconstruction work has been carried out in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur over the past five years, Aydin Karimov, Special Representative of the President in the Shusha district, said at the event titled “Post-conflict urban planning: Restoring destroyed identity and rebuilding an integrated future” held at the Azerbaijan pavilion within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), APA reports.
He stated that restoration and reconstruction work in the city of Shusha began immediately after its liberation and has developed very rapidly over the past few years: “Until Shusha was liberated on November 8, we had been deprived of this beautiful city. But we liberated Shusha, and the Armenian occupiers were expelled from the city. The consequences of the occupation are evident in all liberated territories. Recently, destruction on such an unimaginable scale had not occurred anywhere in the world; cities and villages had been devastated. Shusha suffered the greatest damage, and its cultural heritage was destroyed. The ecological balance of the Lesser Caucasus in the area had been completely disrupted. We personally witnessed this while reconstruction work was being carried out in the area. All this destruction and the examples of barbarism during the occupation were unprecedented in the world. These were not cities destroyed as a result of military operations, they should be regarded as a deliberate attempt to destroy Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage.”
Aydin Karimov noted that 27 historical monuments, including mosques, have been restored in Shusha to date.
He added that this work will continue: “This year alone, we will begin conservation work on 15 historical monuments. These are very important projects. In addition, design work will begin on several monuments, including the monument to Khurshidbanu Natavan.”
