The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has condemned as a "provocation" the planned construction of a college in Shusha.
"The illegal construction of facilities in Azerbaijan's occupied districts is further provocation by the Armenian side," ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said.
He was commenting on reports of the start of ground work for the construction of a vocational college in Shusha, funded by the French branch of the All-Armenian Hayastan Fund.
The vocational college will be able to accommodate up to 225 students.
"This shows that the Armenian leadership does not intend to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is seeking to preserve the status quo by all means at its disposal," Abdullayev said.
Shusha is seen as the cradle of Azerbaijani culture, especially mugam music.
Its fall to Armenian armed forces on 8 May 1992 was a turning point in the Karabakh war. Although fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces ended in 1994 with the signing of a ceasefire, no peace agreement has been reached. Shusha, the rest of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts remain occupied by Armenian forces.
The nub of the conflict remains unresolved - the competing claims of territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists takes precedence in the case of Karabakh, and self-determination, which Armenia wants to see for the Armenians of Karabakh.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
