Azerbaijan’s Lachin to shine as CIS cultural capital in June ceremony

The official ceremony to mark the designation of the city of Lachin as the Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is set to take place from June 2 to 4, said Huseyn Guliyev, representative of the Azerbaijani President's Special Representation in Lachin district.

“The opening ceremony on the occasion of awarding the city of Lachin the status of CIS cultural capital will be held on June 2–4. We expect a large number of guests at this event. As you can see, we are fully prepared to receive them,” Guliyev said, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Preparations for the event are in full swing, with infrastructure and hospitality services in the city enhanced to accommodate visiting delegations, cultural figures, and dignitaries from across the CIS.

Azerbaijani Lachin city’s designation as the Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for 2025 was declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin during the CIS Heads of State Council meeting held in Moscow last October.

Lachin is set to become the second city within Azerbaijan’s liberated territories to be designated as a cultural capital by an international organization. In 2023, the city of Shusha, located in the Karabakh (Garabagh) region, was named the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World by unanimous decision of the TURKSOY organization.

Covering an area of 1,800 square kilometers, Lachin is one of Azerbaijan’s largest districts. It was occupied by Armenian armed forces on May 18, 1992, serving as a strategic corridor linking the then-occupied Karabakh region to Armenia.

The conflict in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region escalated dramatically on September 27, 2020, when Armenian forces stationed in the occupied Azerbaijani territories commenced shelling military positions and civilian settlements. In response, the Azerbaijani military launched an immediate counteroffensive to repel the aggression.

Over the course of the campaign, Azerbaijani forces successfully liberated more than 300 settlements, including the strategically and symbolically significant cities of Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli, and Shusha, which had been under nearly three decades of illegal Armenian occupation. The hostilities concluded with the signing of a tripartite statement on November 10, 2020, by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Under the agreement, Armenia committed to returning the occupied districts of Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin to Azerbaijan—territories internationally recognized as sovereign Azerbaijani lands.

Lachin district was the final of the three territories to be handed back by Armenia to Azerbaijan in fulfillment of its commitments under the tripartite agreement.

By Vafa Guliyeva