French portal highlights Armenian vandalism in Karabakh

The French portal "Musulmans en France" (Muslims in France) published on August 3 a report on the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, including the city of Shusha.

According to Azertag, the report, prepared by the First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Community of Azerbaijan, political observer, and correspondent of CBC TV channel Anastasia Lavrina, in collaboration with the world-famous photojournalist Reza Deghati, tells the story of the mass destruction and the facts of plunder committed by Armenians in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan after the First Karabakh War, including in Shusha. It features eyewitness accounts of the tragedy.

The report notes that Shusha, liberated in the 44-day war in 2020, is the cultural capital of Azerbaijan. The liberation of the city became possible as a result of a successful operation carried out by the Azerbaijani army under the leadership of the President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. Shusha's liberation marked the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The story also tells about the history of the city of Shusha.

Anastasia Lavrina and Reza Deghati visited the family of a participant in the First Karabakh War, the National Hero of Azerbaijan, the founder of the Shusha Self-Defense Battalion, established in 1992, Ramiz Gambarov. The brother of the National Hero - Hafiz Gambarov and other relatives shared their memories of him. According to them, Ramiz Gambarov fought for his native Shusha until his last breath.

In the video, Reza Deghati shared his memories of the last meeting with Ramiz Gambarov. The world-famous photographer said that in April 1992, when Shusha was under siege, he took a picture with Ramiz Gambarov and called this photo "The last tea party in Shusha." The picture was widely known not only in Azerbaijan but all over the world.

The footage highlights that during the years of occupation, mosques, historical and cultural monuments were destroyed in Shusha, and busts of famous personalities, including Natavan, Uzeyir Hajibeyli, and Bulbul, were vandalized. Only after the liberation of the city of Shusha, these sculptures were returned to their original place.