Azerbaijan: Shusha Cliffs
Shusha is located on an elevated plateau rising between 1200-1600 feet above the surrounding terrain (which is high elevation by itself). As such, Shusha commands a strategic location in all of Karabakh. Given its position and location the city was a self-governing Armenian kingdom in the 17th century and then the cultural and political center of Azeri nation in the 19th century. Until 1920, it was a rather peaceful mixed Armenian-Azeri town, and then a massacre of the Armenian population happened and almost all were expelled making Shusha almost entirely Azeri populated. In 1993, Armenia reversed everything and expelled the Azeri, turning Shusha into a stronghold protecting the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2020, Azerbaijan captured Shusha and forced the agreement that ended up reclaiming most of the republic’s territory back. It was actually over these steep cliff that the Azeri troops scaled up into the town and took control of it.
