Artsakh hosts wreath laying ceremony at liberators’ common grave

PanARMENIAN.Net - On May 8, 11:00 am, Nagorno Karabakh capital of Stepanakert hosted a wreath laying ceremony at the common grave of soldiers-liberators on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi.

As a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reports from Stepanakert, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan, second president of NKR Arkadi Ghukasyan, Catholicos of all Armenians His Holiness Karekin II, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, as well as foreign guests attended the ceremony.

On their way to Shoushi, Armenian and Artsakh Presidents stopped at the tank that was the first to break into the city, and laid wreaths to it.

Shushi, due its impregnability, long served as a unique defensive point for population of Varanda. In XVIII century it became a fortress town and a major trade and cultural center in XIX. In 1920, Soviet power was established in Shushi and in June 1923 Nagorno Karabakh was transferred to Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. On May 8, 1992, the city was liberated in an unprecedented operation by Artsakh army.