17
May
On May 17, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko inspected the damaged statues of prominent Azerbaijani figures – Natavan, Bulbul, and Uzeyir Hajibeyli in Shusha, which were shelled by Armenians during the occupation.
During the occupation, the statues were taken to Armenia with the intention of being melted down. However, thanks to the initiative of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, the statues were retrieved from Armenia and brought back to Azerbaijan, and were preserved in the courtyard of the Museum of Arts in Baku. After Shusha was liberated, these statues were returned to their original locations on the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev.