Battle of Shusha
Encyclopedia
The Capture of Shusha ( (Šušii azatagrumë), the Liberation of Shushi; Azeri
: Şuşanın işğalı, the Occupation of Shusha) was the first significant military victory by Armenian
forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave during the Nagorno-Karabakh War
. The battle took place in the strategically important Azeri mountain town of Shusha
(known as Shushi to Armenians) on the evening of May 8, 1992, and fighting swiftly concluded the following day after Armenian forces captured and drove out the defending Azeris
. Armenian military commanders based in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital of Stepanakert
had been contemplating the capture of the town after a hail of Azeri military bombardment had begun shelling that city.
The seizure of the town proved decisive. Shusha was the most important military stronghold that Azerbaijan held in Nagorno-Karabakh – its loss marked a turning point in the war, and led to a series of military victories by Armenian forces in the course of the conflict. However some of the shelling was, according to the accounts of former residents, either indiscriminate or intentionally aimed at civilian targets.
for over seventy years inside the borders of the Azerbaijan SSR
. Following its government's decision to secede from Azerbaijan and unify with Armenia, the conflict erupted into a larger scale ethnic feud between Armenians and Azeris living in the Soviet Union
. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Armenians and Azeris vied to take control of Karabakh with full scale battles taking place in the winter of 1992. By then, the enclave had declared its independence and set up an unrecognized, though self-functioning government.
The advanced weaponry of tanks, armored fighting vehicles, fighter jets and helicopter gunships bought and used by both sides illustrated the aftereffects of the free-for-all weapons vacuum created upon the disintegration of the Soviet Union. A large scale population shift had also been in effect since the conflict began with most of the Armenians living in Azerbaijan and Azeris in Armenia trading places. The battle was preceded by the controversial capture of the town and the location of Karabakh's only airport in Khojaly
by Armenians in February 1992. With the loss of Khojaly, Azeri commanders had been redirecting the rest of their firepower upon Stepanakert from the ridge on Shusha.
Shusha is located on a mountaintop and overlooks the NKR highly-populated capital, Stepanakert
(just 5 km away), from an elevation of 600m. An old fortress with high walls, the town is five kilometers (four miles) to the south of Stepanakert and perched on a mountaintop with limited vehicular access to reach it. From a geographical standpoint it was well-suited for Azerbaijani shelling of Stepanakert. The mainstay artillery platform used in the bombardment, which began on January 10, 1992, was the Soviet built BM-21 GRAD multiple rocket launcher
capable of firing 40 rockets simultaneously, a modern variant of the widely used World War II weapon, the Katyusha. The GRAD launcher was similar to the Katyusha in that it did not have a guided missile system and hence the location of where it would hit was difficult to determine. Essentially, Grad is designed to deliver anti-personnel devastation on an open battlefield, while the Azerbaijanis used it to shell civilians in a highly-populated capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. Dubbed "flying telephone poles" due to their long, shaped charges, the missiles caused devastating damage to buildings including the destruction of residential houses, schools, the city's silk factory and maternity hospital.
On January 23, 1992, Azerbaijan's defense minister T. Mekhtiyev arrived to Shusha and tried to retain the nearby village of Dashalty, which the Armenians were using as a fortified position.The reciprocal Azeri shelling had begun.
Shusha was the main fire point from where Stepanakert was assaulted. Once the region's Communist Party
headquarters and largest city with a population of 70,000, the fighting and shelling had driven away nearly 20,000 of Stepanakert's residents and forced the remainder to live underground in basements. By one tally recorded in early April, a total of 157 rockets had landed on the city in a single day. Many soldiers and civilians were killed or maimed daily by the projectiles as the bombardment was notoriously indiscriminate. Since November 1991 till early May 1992 a total of 4,740 missiles were fired on Stepanakert
from the direction of Shusha, Jangasan, Kesalar
, Gaibalu, 3,000 of these coming from the Grad batteries. This resulted in the deaths of 111 civilians and left 332 injured; 370 houses and buildings were destroyed. By early 1992 the bombing intensified. In a course of one week the city was bombed with over 1,000 shells (800 of which were reactive shells). This left 20 civilians dead. On February 23, ten servicemen in the Russia
n-led CIS
366th Motorized Rifle Regiment (of the 23rd Motor Rifle Division, 4th Army) headquartered in Stepanakert, tasked with maintaining peace between the Armenians and Azeris, were injured and one was killed in a bombardment by the artillery units.
Altogether, over 2,000 civilians were killed and thousands more injured in the bombardment in 1992; moreover, the city's infrastructure was completely severed with the destruction of sewage networks, water pipes, gas and electricity. In an article filed by a journalist for Time, it was noted that "scarcely a single building [had] escaped damage in Stepanakert." By one tally recorded in early April, a total of 157 rockets had landed on the city in a single day.
In addition to the shelling, the Azeri military also launched air raids and staged several ground attacks on the outskirts of Stepanakert in hopes of later moving on to capture the city itself. While they were staved off numerous times, the city's leaders complained that military action had to be taken to relieve it from the continuous bombardment. On April 27, the military leaders' plans were approved to move in and capture the town.
Planning for the military operation began under the auspices of Colonel-General Gurgen Daribaltayan
with guidance from Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan. All of the military factors were in favor of the Azeri Army
. The Azeris had advantage in terms of the quantity and the quality of military equipment; they held a numerical superiority; and also held the high ground and, due to the strategic position of Shusha, the town could be easily defended. Therefore, a direct attack by Armenian forces was not a viable option for Daribaltayan. Furthermore, according to military conventions and practices, for the operation to be successful, the attacking party should outnumber the defenders by at least 3–4 times (even more when attacking an elevation), while the NKR Detachments
simply did not have such manpower at the time. Instead, in conjunction with the commander who would lead the troops into Shusha, Arkady "Komandos" Ter-Tatevosyan
, they devised a strategy of launching several diversionary attacks against the adjacent villages to draw out the defenders of the town. In the meantime, the forces would encircle and cut off the town from further reinforcements.
The military order of Shusha seizure was signed on May 4, 1992 with the following details:
Prior to the launch of the offensive against the Shusha citadel
, Ter-Tatevosyan's forces had been concentrating an artillery barrage from several directions for several weeks in order to "soften up" the town's defenses. Since late February, the Azeri military had been reinforcing Shusha's ridge and ammunition, and had been shuttling in helicopters in order to evacuate the town's civilian population. The attack was to start on May 4, but for various reasons (lack of ammunition, adverse weather conditions, etc.) it was delayed. By May 8, Armenian forces had amassed a force of nearly 1,000 fighters to storm Shusha.
, 4 of which (under command of Arkady Karapetyan, Valery Chechyan, Samvel Babayan
and Seyran Ohanyan
) would attack from different directions, and the 5th (under command of Yura Ovanisyan) would remain as reserve in case any of the groups needed immediate reinforcement. The primary contingent of the attacking force was made up primarily on foot infantry but was complemented by at least four tanks and two attack helicopters. Amongst the Armenians who took part in the taking of the town was the future President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan.
Entrenched in Shusha was the Azeri commander Elbrus Orujev who commanded a force of several hundred men and tanks. Due to the proximity of the attacking forces, the GRAD launchers were largely useless in their role of defending the town. Orujev's forces troops managed to initially fend off the Armenians who were already scaling the town's cliffs. Orjuev's men were bolstered by a Chechen
volunteer contingent led by guerrilla warlord Shamil Basayev
who were among the last to leave the city.
By mid-day, the fighting in Shusha escalated into a full-scale engagement, as both sides were involved in fierce combat amidst Shusha's battered streets and near its communications tower. A famous encounter took place between the two sides when an Armenian T-72
tank, the first to enter Shusha, encountered its Azeri counterpart on the northern approach of the town. As the two exchanged fire the Armenian tank, manned by Gagik Avsharyan, was hit by several rounds from the opposing T-72 and knocked out of commission. Avsharyan's tank was armed with obsolete HEAT rounds that were ineffective against the armor of the other tank. Two of the tank's crew members were killed but Avsharyan survived. By the evening of May 8, Armenian forces destroyed three of the GRAD launchers and captured the remainder of the battery. Within several hours, the defenders were forced to retreat to the town's southernmost tip.
By May 9 the Armenian forces were firmly in control of Shusha. At the battle-scarred Ghazanchetsots Cathedral
they discovered that the Azeris had converted the church into a storage area for the GRAD ammunition. Overwhelmed by the attacking force, Orujev ordered his forces to retreat and abandon the citadel. Casualty counts were estimated to have been over a hundred on both sides.
, brother of Nagorno Karabakh commander Monte Melkonian
, would later write that "the capture of Shusha would go down in the annals of local lore as the most glorious victory" in the first half of the war.
The capture of Shusha ushered many Armenians living in Stepanakert and elsewhere in Karabakh to supplant the majority Azeri population living there before the battle. Several days following the offensive, Armenian forces launched an attack in the region of Lachin
and opened up a five mile corridor
connecting the enclave to Armenia proper. The offensive prompted two attacks by Azerbaijan's military. One was concentrated on taking back Shusha on on May 11 and the other was further south in Martuni
. Despite earlier claims made by Azerbaijan's defense ministry to having taken back Shusha, the offensive had failed. In the Armenian defended front of Martuni, Armenian forces also turned back a retaliatory Azeri offensive while at the same time inflicting heavy losses.
On the day of the Armenian victory, Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and then acting Azerbaijani president Yagub Mamedov were present in Tehran
, Iran to sign a cease-fire agreement. News of the Armenian offensive led Mamedov to charge that Armenia had already failed to honor the cease-fire. Ter-Petrossian however contested that he was unable to control what the Armenians in Karabakh were planning. The loss of Shusha later led to mass demonstrations in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku
against newly reinstated president Ayaz Mütallibov
. Charged for failing to defend the cities of Shusha on the 9th and later Lachin on the 18th, he was forced to step down. Many Azeris were in a state of affliction and disbelief due to the loss: the town had been the birthplace for Azeri composers, poets and musicians and many felt that the town's capture had been betrayed or sold for political purposes. In a television interview in 2000, Basayev discounted these theories and contended that the town's defenders had simply abandoned their positions.
After the war ended, Avsharyan's T-72 tank was recovered and repaired and currently stands as a monument in Shusha. May 9 is now celebrated in Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as the "The Day of the NKR’s Defence Army" and "The Day of Liberation of Shusha." A commendation medal was also awarded by the government to those Armenians who participated in the battle. The city has become one of the central items involved in the negotiating process in peace talks since the war ended in 1994.
, took umbrage after Armenian troops had captured the town. Süleyman Demirel
, Turkey's prime minister said that he was coming under intense pressure by the Turkish people to send military help to Azerbaijan. The two peoples are ethnically and culturally related. Demirel however decided not to heed their calls partly because the commander of the CIS forces based in Caucasus
, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov
had warned that such an incursion would lead to "the verge of a third world war, and that cannot be allowed." The Armenian victory in Shusha had many Turkish officials accusing Armenia itself of seeking to invade the Azeri exclave of Nakhichevan
.
Because of international pressure Turkey was ostensibly restricted to providing economic support to Azerbaijan. Nonetheless, the Turkish army and intelligence services launched undercover operations to supply Azerbaijan with arms and military personnel. According to Turkish sources, over 350 high-ranking officers and thousands of volunteers from Turkey participated in the warfare on the Azerbaijani side. Western authors reported several major shipments of weapons from Turkey, including bringing an arsenal of Soviet-made arms from former German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Simultaneously, Turkey was engaged in overt intimidation of Armenia. On the international stage it lobbied various organizations and promoted a pro-Azerbaijani bent of mediation and conflict resolution efforts. Turkish diplomats organized "Turkic Summits" for Turkic nations that included Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to convince the leaders of the Central Asian countries to sever economic ties with Armenia and condemn its military involvement in Nagorno Karabakh.
's youth wing that began from Armenia and ended in Shusha during the run up to May 9. During the processions, then president of the NKR Arkadi Ghukasyan, reiterated the point that the citizens of the republic would have the final say over their future.
The parade was headed by the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
's first deputy commander, Major General Movses Hakobyan. Attendants of it included veterans of the battle and the Nagorno-Karabakh war and veterans from the Second World War since May 9 also marks Victory in Europe
day.
In Armenia, prime minister Serzh Sargsyan inaugurated the naming of a square in the capital of Yerevan
after Shusha.
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
: Şuşanın işğalı, the Occupation of Shusha) was the first significant military victory by Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
enclave during the Nagorno-Karabakh War
Nagorno-Karabakh War
The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
. The battle took place in the strategically important Azeri mountain town of Shusha
Shusha
Shusha , also known as Shushi is a town in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. It has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since its capture in 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...
(known as Shushi to Armenians) on the evening of May 8, 1992, and fighting swiftly concluded the following day after Armenian forces captured and drove out the defending Azeris
Azerbaijani people
The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
. Armenian military commanders based in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital of Stepanakert
Stepanakert
Stepanakert is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, though is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan...
had been contemplating the capture of the town after a hail of Azeri military bombardment had begun shelling that city.
The seizure of the town proved decisive. Shusha was the most important military stronghold that Azerbaijan held in Nagorno-Karabakh – its loss marked a turning point in the war, and led to a series of military victories by Armenian forces in the course of the conflict. However some of the shelling was, according to the accounts of former residents, either indiscriminate or intentionally aimed at civilian targets.
Background
In February 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh had been an autonomous oblastAutonomous oblast
An autonomous oblast is an autonomous entity within the state which is on the oblast level of the overall administrative subdivision. It may refer to:*Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union*Autonomous oblasts of Russia...
for over seventy years inside the borders of the Azerbaijan SSR
Azerbaijan SSR
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
. Following its government's decision to secede from Azerbaijan and unify with Armenia, the conflict erupted into a larger scale ethnic feud between Armenians and Azeris living in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Armenians and Azeris vied to take control of Karabakh with full scale battles taking place in the winter of 1992. By then, the enclave had declared its independence and set up an unrecognized, though self-functioning government.
The advanced weaponry of tanks, armored fighting vehicles, fighter jets and helicopter gunships bought and used by both sides illustrated the aftereffects of the free-for-all weapons vacuum created upon the disintegration of the Soviet Union. A large scale population shift had also been in effect since the conflict began with most of the Armenians living in Azerbaijan and Azeris in Armenia trading places. The battle was preceded by the controversial capture of the town and the location of Karabakh's only airport in Khojaly
Khojali (city)
Khojali or Ivanyan , also, Ay-Khodzhaly, Khodgalou, Khodzhalv, Khodzhaly, Khojalu, and Khozhali, is a town in Nagorno Karabakh, located some 10 km northeast of its capital Stepanakert...
by Armenians in February 1992. With the loss of Khojaly, Azeri commanders had been redirecting the rest of their firepower upon Stepanakert from the ridge on Shusha.
Early skirmishes
Stepanakert
Stepanakert is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, though is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan...
(just 5 km away), from an elevation of 600m. An old fortress with high walls, the town is five kilometers (four miles) to the south of Stepanakert and perched on a mountaintop with limited vehicular access to reach it. From a geographical standpoint it was well-suited for Azerbaijani shelling of Stepanakert. The mainstay artillery platform used in the bombardment, which began on January 10, 1992, was the Soviet built BM-21 GRAD multiple rocket launcher
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...
capable of firing 40 rockets simultaneously, a modern variant of the widely used World War II weapon, the Katyusha. The GRAD launcher was similar to the Katyusha in that it did not have a guided missile system and hence the location of where it would hit was difficult to determine. Essentially, Grad is designed to deliver anti-personnel devastation on an open battlefield, while the Azerbaijanis used it to shell civilians in a highly-populated capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. Dubbed "flying telephone poles" due to their long, shaped charges, the missiles caused devastating damage to buildings including the destruction of residential houses, schools, the city's silk factory and maternity hospital.
On January 23, 1992, Azerbaijan's defense minister T. Mekhtiyev arrived to Shusha and tried to retain the nearby village of Dashalty, which the Armenians were using as a fortified position.The reciprocal Azeri shelling had begun.
Shusha was the main fire point from where Stepanakert was assaulted. Once the region's Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
headquarters and largest city with a population of 70,000, the fighting and shelling had driven away nearly 20,000 of Stepanakert's residents and forced the remainder to live underground in basements. By one tally recorded in early April, a total of 157 rockets had landed on the city in a single day. Many soldiers and civilians were killed or maimed daily by the projectiles as the bombardment was notoriously indiscriminate. Since November 1991 till early May 1992 a total of 4,740 missiles were fired on Stepanakert
Stepanakert
Stepanakert is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, though is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan...
from the direction of Shusha, Jangasan, Kesalar
Kesalar
Kesalar is a village in the Lachin Rayon of Azerbaijan.This village is in an area occupied by the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It is suspected that this village has undergone a name change or no longer exists, as no Azerbaijani website mentions it under this name....
, Gaibalu, 3,000 of these coming from the Grad batteries. This resulted in the deaths of 111 civilians and left 332 injured; 370 houses and buildings were destroyed. By early 1992 the bombing intensified. In a course of one week the city was bombed with over 1,000 shells (800 of which were reactive shells). This left 20 civilians dead. On February 23, ten servicemen in the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-led CIS
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
366th Motorized Rifle Regiment (of the 23rd Motor Rifle Division, 4th Army) headquartered in Stepanakert, tasked with maintaining peace between the Armenians and Azeris, were injured and one was killed in a bombardment by the artillery units.
Altogether, over 2,000 civilians were killed and thousands more injured in the bombardment in 1992; moreover, the city's infrastructure was completely severed with the destruction of sewage networks, water pipes, gas and electricity. In an article filed by a journalist for Time, it was noted that "scarcely a single building [had] escaped damage in Stepanakert." By one tally recorded in early April, a total of 157 rockets had landed on the city in a single day.
In addition to the shelling, the Azeri military also launched air raids and staged several ground attacks on the outskirts of Stepanakert in hopes of later moving on to capture the city itself. While they were staved off numerous times, the city's leaders complained that military action had to be taken to relieve it from the continuous bombardment. On April 27, the military leaders' plans were approved to move in and capture the town.
Preparation
Gurgen Daribaltayan
Colonel-General Gurgen Daribaltayan was a commander at the Battle of Shusha, a battle to liberate the city from the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, often called the Marriage in the Highlands...
with guidance from Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan. All of the military factors were in favor of the Azeri Army
Azerbaijani Armed Forces
The Azerbaijani Armed Forces were re-established according to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Armed Forces from 9 October 1991. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic had originally formed its own armed forces from 26 June 1918...
. The Azeris had advantage in terms of the quantity and the quality of military equipment; they held a numerical superiority; and also held the high ground and, due to the strategic position of Shusha, the town could be easily defended. Therefore, a direct attack by Armenian forces was not a viable option for Daribaltayan. Furthermore, according to military conventions and practices, for the operation to be successful, the attacking party should outnumber the defenders by at least 3–4 times (even more when attacking an elevation), while the NKR Detachments
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army is the formal defense force of the unrecognized but de-facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
simply did not have such manpower at the time. Instead, in conjunction with the commander who would lead the troops into Shusha, Arkady "Komandos" Ter-Tatevosyan
Arkady Ter-Tatevosyan
Arkady Ivanovich Ter-Tadevosyan was a military leader of the Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Ter-Tadevosyan is best known as being the commander of the operation to capture the town of Shushi in May 1992.-Biography:...
, they devised a strategy of launching several diversionary attacks against the adjacent villages to draw out the defenders of the town. In the meantime, the forces would encircle and cut off the town from further reinforcements.
Order of battle
The plan was put together in March–April, 1992, after the intelligence data about the location, positions and the number of the rival forces had been finalized. By the commission of L. Martirosov, a model of Shusha area was made, enabling the commanders to define their actions and directions. The plan was developed in top secrecy. On April 28 the main directions of the operation, the commanders, the resources at hand were finalized and defined.The military order of Shusha seizure was signed on May 4, 1992 with the following details:
1. The enemy holds the surrounding positions
- in Shushi elevations with a human resource of 1200,
- in Zarslu – of about 100,
- in Lisagor – of about 300–350,
- in Kesalar
KosalarKosalar is a village in Khojali Rayon of Azerbaijan. Since 1992 the village together with Khojali district have been under control of the Armenian military forces.- Notable natives : * Movsum Mammadov — National Hero of Azerbaijan...
– of about 300.
2. Our task is:
- a) To defeat the enemy in Lisagor, Zaralu, Janasan, Karagyav;
- b) To defeat the enemy at Shushi approaches, to gain Shushi and to free the city from the Greens (codename for the enemy);
- c) to further advance to Berdadzor
BerdadzorBerdadzor is a village in Nagorno-Karabakh. It has been under Armenian control since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War....
and free the Berdadzor district from the Greens;- d) The enemy has concentrated the main forces in Kesalar, Lisagor, Zarslu, in surroundings of Shushi and circled the whole city. The ways for defeating the enemy: to gain high point N and take position there.
After regrouping of forces to advance to Lisagor and Zarslu and to immediately start the attack in four directions:
- a) Direction of Shosh /eastern/, commander – A. Karapetyan
- b) Direction of “26”/northern/, commander – V. Chitchyan
- c) Lachin direction /southern/, commander – S. Babayan
Samvel BabayanSamvel Babayan was the Commander in Chief of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army from 1994 to 2000 and current leader of the Dashink political party in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.- Early life and military career :...- d) Kesalar direction /north-eastern/, commander – Seyran Ohanyan
Seyran OhanyanSeyran Ohanyan is the current Defence Minister of Armenia. He has held this position since April 14, 2008.-Biography:Ohanyan was born in the town of Shusha, then a part of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union...
,- commander of reserve troops – Y. Hovhannisyan
To defeat the enemy from Stepanakert side at three Shushi edges, then to destroy the enemy and liberate Shushi.
Prior to the launch of the offensive against the Shusha citadel
Citadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
, Ter-Tatevosyan's forces had been concentrating an artillery barrage from several directions for several weeks in order to "soften up" the town's defenses. Since late February, the Azeri military had been reinforcing Shusha's ridge and ammunition, and had been shuttling in helicopters in order to evacuate the town's civilian population. The attack was to start on May 4, but for various reasons (lack of ammunition, adverse weather conditions, etc.) it was delayed. By May 8, Armenian forces had amassed a force of nearly 1,000 fighters to storm Shusha.
The offensive
In the twilight hours of May 8, Ter-Tatevosyan directed his forces to assail Shusha from different directions and attack its flanks and its rear so as to avoid the ridge facing Stepanakert which was the town's most easily defendable location. The force was divided into 5 companiesCompany (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
, 4 of which (under command of Arkady Karapetyan, Valery Chechyan, Samvel Babayan
Samvel Babayan
Samvel Babayan was the Commander in Chief of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army from 1994 to 2000 and current leader of the Dashink political party in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.- Early life and military career :...
and Seyran Ohanyan
Seyran Ohanyan
Seyran Ohanyan is the current Defence Minister of Armenia. He has held this position since April 14, 2008.-Biography:Ohanyan was born in the town of Shusha, then a part of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union...
) would attack from different directions, and the 5th (under command of Yura Ovanisyan) would remain as reserve in case any of the groups needed immediate reinforcement. The primary contingent of the attacking force was made up primarily on foot infantry but was complemented by at least four tanks and two attack helicopters. Amongst the Armenians who took part in the taking of the town was the future President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan.
Entrenched in Shusha was the Azeri commander Elbrus Orujev who commanded a force of several hundred men and tanks. Due to the proximity of the attacking forces, the GRAD launchers were largely useless in their role of defending the town. Orujev's forces troops managed to initially fend off the Armenians who were already scaling the town's cliffs. Orjuev's men were bolstered by a Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
volunteer contingent led by guerrilla warlord Shamil Basayev
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev was a Chechen militant Islamist and a leader of the Chechen rebel movement.Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against the Russian troops for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal...
who were among the last to leave the city.
By mid-day, the fighting in Shusha escalated into a full-scale engagement, as both sides were involved in fierce combat amidst Shusha's battered streets and near its communications tower. A famous encounter took place between the two sides when an Armenian T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
tank, the first to enter Shusha, encountered its Azeri counterpart on the northern approach of the town. As the two exchanged fire the Armenian tank, manned by Gagik Avsharyan, was hit by several rounds from the opposing T-72 and knocked out of commission. Avsharyan's tank was armed with obsolete HEAT rounds that were ineffective against the armor of the other tank. Two of the tank's crew members were killed but Avsharyan survived. By the evening of May 8, Armenian forces destroyed three of the GRAD launchers and captured the remainder of the battery. Within several hours, the defenders were forced to retreat to the town's southernmost tip.
By May 9 the Armenian forces were firmly in control of Shusha. At the battle-scarred Ghazanchetsots Cathedral
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral , also known as the Cathedral of Christ the Holy Savior and the Shushi Cathedral , is an Armenian church located in Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh.-History:...
they discovered that the Azeris had converted the church into a storage area for the GRAD ammunition. Overwhelmed by the attacking force, Orujev ordered his forces to retreat and abandon the citadel. Casualty counts were estimated to have been over a hundred on both sides.
Political fallout
Writer Markar MelkonianMarkar Melkonian
Markar Melkonian is an Armenian-American writer and a solidarity worker, resident in the United States.Melkonian's book "My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia", details the life of his brother, Monte Melkonian, and his role in the struggle for Armenian independence in the...
, brother of Nagorno Karabakh commander Monte Melkonian
Monte Melkonian
Monte Melkonian was a famed Armenian commander during Nagorno-Karabakh war. Melkonian had no prior service record in any country's army before being placed in command of an estimated 4,000 men in the war...
, would later write that "the capture of Shusha would go down in the annals of local lore as the most glorious victory" in the first half of the war.
The capture of Shusha ushered many Armenians living in Stepanakert and elsewhere in Karabakh to supplant the majority Azeri population living there before the battle. Several days following the offensive, Armenian forces launched an attack in the region of Lachin
Lachin
Lachin is a town in Azerbaijan and the regional center of the Lachin Rayon. Since 1992 the area has been under the control of the de facto independent unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which has renamed the town Berdzor . The town and its surrounding region serve as the strategic Lachin...
and opened up a five mile corridor
Lachin corridor
The Lachin corridor is a mountain pass within de-jure borders of Azerbaijan, it is the shortest route which connects Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
connecting the enclave to Armenia proper. The offensive prompted two attacks by Azerbaijan's military. One was concentrated on taking back Shusha on on May 11 and the other was further south in Martuni
Martuni
Martuni is a province of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It consists of the branch of Nagorno-Karabakh which juts out farthest to the east, almost reaches Stepanakert on the west, and goes a little past Karmir Shuka on the south...
. Despite earlier claims made by Azerbaijan's defense ministry to having taken back Shusha, the offensive had failed. In the Armenian defended front of Martuni, Armenian forces also turned back a retaliatory Azeri offensive while at the same time inflicting heavy losses.
On the day of the Armenian victory, Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and then acting Azerbaijani president Yagub Mamedov were present in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran to sign a cease-fire agreement. News of the Armenian offensive led Mamedov to charge that Armenia had already failed to honor the cease-fire. Ter-Petrossian however contested that he was unable to control what the Armenians in Karabakh were planning. The loss of Shusha later led to mass demonstrations in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
against newly reinstated president Ayaz Mütallibov
Ayaz Mütallibov
Ayaz Niyazi oğlu Mütallibov was the last leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, and the first President of independent Azerbaijan from October 1991 till May 1992.-Biography:...
. Charged for failing to defend the cities of Shusha on the 9th and later Lachin on the 18th, he was forced to step down. Many Azeris were in a state of affliction and disbelief due to the loss: the town had been the birthplace for Azeri composers, poets and musicians and many felt that the town's capture had been betrayed or sold for political purposes. In a television interview in 2000, Basayev discounted these theories and contended that the town's defenders had simply abandoned their positions.
After the war ended, Avsharyan's T-72 tank was recovered and repaired and currently stands as a monument in Shusha. May 9 is now celebrated in Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as the "The Day of the NKR’s Defence Army" and "The Day of Liberation of Shusha." A commendation medal was also awarded by the government to those Armenians who participated in the battle. The city has become one of the central items involved in the negotiating process in peace talks since the war ended in 1994.
Turkey's involvement
Armenia's western neighbor, TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, took umbrage after Armenian troops had captured the town. Süleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
, Turkey's prime minister said that he was coming under intense pressure by the Turkish people to send military help to Azerbaijan. The two peoples are ethnically and culturally related. Demirel however decided not to heed their calls partly because the commander of the CIS forces based in Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, Yevgeny Shaposhnikov
Yevgeny Shaposhnikov
Yevgeny Ivanovich Shaposhnikov is a Russian military leader and business figure, Marshal of Aviation .Shaposhnikov was born on a farm near Aksay in Rostov Oblast Russia...
had warned that such an incursion would lead to "the verge of a third world war, and that cannot be allowed." The Armenian victory in Shusha had many Turkish officials accusing Armenia itself of seeking to invade the Azeri exclave of Nakhichevan
Nakhichevan
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is a landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan. The region covers 5,363 km² and borders Armenia to the east and north, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest...
.
Because of international pressure Turkey was ostensibly restricted to providing economic support to Azerbaijan. Nonetheless, the Turkish army and intelligence services launched undercover operations to supply Azerbaijan with arms and military personnel. According to Turkish sources, over 350 high-ranking officers and thousands of volunteers from Turkey participated in the warfare on the Azerbaijani side. Western authors reported several major shipments of weapons from Turkey, including bringing an arsenal of Soviet-made arms from former German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Simultaneously, Turkey was engaged in overt intimidation of Armenia. On the international stage it lobbied various organizations and promoted a pro-Azerbaijani bent of mediation and conflict resolution efforts. Turkish diplomats organized "Turkic Summits" for Turkic nations that included Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to convince the leaders of the Central Asian countries to sever economic ties with Armenia and condemn its military involvement in Nagorno Karabakh.
The fifteenth anniversary
On May 9, 2007, Armenia and the NKR celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of the town's liberation. The festivities included a military parade in Renaissance Square in Stepanakert and a cross-country marathon organized by the Armenian Revolutionary FederationArmenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation is an Armenian political party founded in Tiflis in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian...
's youth wing that began from Armenia and ended in Shusha during the run up to May 9. During the processions, then president of the NKR Arkadi Ghukasyan, reiterated the point that the citizens of the republic would have the final say over their future.
The parade was headed by the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army is the formal defense force of the unrecognized but de-facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
's first deputy commander, Major General Movses Hakobyan. Attendants of it included veterans of the battle and the Nagorno-Karabakh war and veterans from the Second World War since May 9 also marks Victory in Europe
Victory Day (Eastern Europe)
Victory Day or 9 May marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War...
day.
In Armenia, prime minister Serzh Sargsyan inaugurated the naming of a square in the capital of Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
after Shusha.
