Trend news agency reports that the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, on Thursday (6 May) signed a decree designating the city of Shusha Azerbaijan’s cultural capital. The city in Nagorno-Karabakh, came under Azerbaijani control during the final days of last year’s 44-day war with Armenia, after having been under Armenian control since the first Karabakh War. 8 May marks the 28th anniversary of that event.
In his decree, President Aliyev states that "the decision was made to restore the historical appearance of Shusha, restore its former glory and reunite it with a rich cultural life, as well as promote Azerbaijan's rich culture, architecture and urban planning in the international arena".