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Baku declared the Artsakh town Shushi "a pearl of Azerbaijan," the cradle of Azerbaijani culture, etc. However, while praising the former leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, the President of the Union of Writers of Azerbaijan Anar slipped indicating that it was under Mr. Aliyev’s ruling that the first monuments "glorifying the Azerbaijanis" appeared in Shushi.

In an interview given to Azerbaijani newspaper "Zerkalo" Anar confirmed that in 1970s the party leadership of Azerbaijan SSR was carrying out a policy of making Shushi more Azerbaijani: " There was not a single monument in Shushi glorifying the Azerbaijanis. But there were busts of Nelson Stepanian and Tevosyan. During the reign of Heydar Aliyev busts of Molla Panah Vagif, Natavan, Uzeyir Hajibayli, Bulbul were installed in Shushi, mosque of Gevhar-agi was restored, "Mema", pearls of architecture - houses of Mehmandarov, Gadzhikuli, madrasas where Molla Panah Vagif taught, house of Shushi scientist Mir Mohsin Nevvab, the grand mausoleum of Vagif ascended, the classics of our poetry, the vizier of Karabakh khanate. "

The head of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan also noted: "At a time when Heydar Aliyev was at the head of the republic, Shushi was actively transforming. Shusha, restoring its historical memory, became one of Azerbaijan’s cultural centers." According to the writer, if Heydar Aliyev, continued to run Azerbaijan during perestroika and the Soviet times, the Armenians would not pick up the Karabakh issue.

"What was the main complaint of the Armenians to Heydar Aliyev? Judging by their statements, it appeared that Heydar Aliyev "emptied" Nakhichevan of Armenians and now wants to clear them out from Karabakh as well," said Anar and stated that "the migration of Armenians from Nakhichevan was connected with natural causes." He recalled that "a resolution came out when Heydar Aliyev was still at office as first secretary of the Central Committee of Azerbaijani Communist Party; it sharply criticized the nationalism in Karabakh. I reminded Heydar Aliyev about it at the meeting with the writer: "Never before such a drastic decision about the Armenian nationalism has been taken in Soviet times."

According to scientist-researchers, and Academician Ashot Ioannisyan in particular, who formed the collection of the documents titled "Armenian-Russian relations in the first third of the XVIII century," centurion Avan laid the now-preserved foundations of the fortifications of Shushi in 1724, if not earlier. Later, in 1751 Armenian prince Melik-Shahnazar suggested Turkic tribe leader Panah Ali Khan, a place where Shushi fortress was built. The population of Shushi consisted of Armenians of Artsakh and Syunik, and little number of Turks. The very name of the city comes from the neighboring Armenian village Shosh (Shushikend).

It is noteworthy that neither Panah Khan nor his son Ibrahim had no land in Varand outside of Shushi, and had to buy lands near Aghdam under the name of the family cemetery.

In 1805, the city of Shushi, as well as all the Karabakh khanate came under the rule of the Russian Empire. By the late 19th early 20th century, the city became one of the greatest cultural and educational centers of the Caucasus, more than half of its population was Armenian. In 1918, National Council of Karabakh Armenians, who recognized the power of Baku, was called in Shushi. During the massacre caused by Azerbaijani troops in 1920, Armenian blocks in Shushi were ruined, destroyed and burned, after which the city was in decline. In Soviet times Shushi actively and purposefully was populated by Azerbaijanis and was built up by typical buildings mutilating its once beautiful appearance. The Armenian blocks were never restored, and the survived Armenian cultural monuments were in decline. In 1988, the Armenians that still were in Shushi, were finally expelled by Azerbaijani nationalists, and the city-fortress itself was turned into a powerful weapon emplacement, from where the capital city of Artsakh, Stepanakert, and the neighboring villages were shelled systematically during the war in 1991 to 1992. Armenian monuments, including the bust of Nelson Stepanyan, native of Shushi, who had twice become a Hero of the Soviet Union, was destroyed.

On 8-9 May 1992 the Self-Defense Forces of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic liberated Shushi from Azerbaijani occupation. Currently, the city is recovering gradually acquiring its former glory.