Nagorno-Karabagh Republic is a country which is unfortunately not recognized by any country other then Armenia. The best way to describe the history and conflict in this country is by reading the following i've found for you.
In the 17th century Shushi was the second center of Varanda Melikdom in one of the Armenian principalities established in the territory of Artsakh. In the 18th century a major Armenian military and defensive base was founded in the same territory which was called Shoshi.
Demographic changes took place in the middle of the 18th century in Artsakh which was the subject of Persia together with East Armenia. Several Turkish-speaking nomadic tribes settled in the territory of Artsakh, including Shushi which had become the center of Karabagh Khanate and continued to be the administrative center of Karabagh till the 1920s’.
In the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, after Shushi was connected with Russia in 1805, the town became one of the important centers of Transcaucasus. Numerous schools functioned (Eparchic, Real, St. Mary’s Maidens’ School and many rural schools). Dozens of magazines and newspapers were published (Haykakan Ashkhar (Armenian World), Gorts (Business), Krunik (Crane),
Azgagrakan Handes (Ethnographic Magazine), Karabagh, Tsiatsan (Rainbow), Paylak (Summer Lightening), Neghuk, Aparaj (Cliff Stone), Karabaghi Surhandak (Courier of Karabagh), Nor Kyank (New Life), etc.). There was a theater and a library. Many churches and cathedrals were built in the traditional Armenian style (Meghretsots, Aguletsots, Kanach Jam, the Russian Church, Kanants Jam) which were sanctified by St. Saviors’ Kazanchetsots Church.
The tragic events of the early 20th century did not sidestep Shushi. As the result of the violent encounters which took place from August 7 to 16, 1905, thousands of Armenians died, and hundreds of Armenian houses (around 400 houses) were burnt in the center of the town.
The terrifying events recurred several years later. The ambitious intentions of the Mousafat Azerbaijan with respect to Mountainous Karabagh were demonstrated in the bloody massacre of 20,000 Armenians on March 23, 1920 when the picturesque Armenian town was changed into a flaming site. Not a single Armenian was left in the town after these events. The ruins of the burnt town remained till the 1960s’ when they were utterly destroyed together with the material, cultural and other values and the tombs of the Armenians. After the massacre in Shushi, Stepanakert became the administrative center in 1923.
According to the reliable statistics disclosed in the press at those times (Caucasus Calendar), the number of the inhabitants of Shushi in 1920 was 60,000 of which 47,000 (over 78%) were Armenians. Shushi was a multi-national town: the remaining 13,000 (less than 22%) constituted residents of Azerbaijani, Russian, Greek, Georgian, Polish and German nationalities. Accordingly, the participation and contribution of the Azerbaijani in the cultural, educational and public activities of the town was minor. As opposed to the wide-range activities of the Armenians in the spheres of education and culture, there were no Azerbaijani newspapers, famous schools or cultural institutions in Shushi.
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