Azerbaijan claims seizing control of major city amid ongoing conflict with Armenia

The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced Sunday that his troops have successfully seized control of Shushi, a strategically important city in Nagorno-Karabakh, amid the ongoing conflict with Armenia.

As reported by Deutsche Welle, in a televised speech, President Ilham Aliyev said: 'Shusha is ours - Karabakh is ours,' using the Azerbaijani version of the city's name. "(This day) will become a great day in the history of Azerbaijan.”

Aliyev also took to his official Twitter account on Sunday and tweeted in Russian. According to Google Translate, he wrote: "I am a happy person because I fulfilled my father's will. We liberated Shusha! This is a great Victory! Today the souls of our martyrs, the soul of the Great Leader [is] rejoiced! Congratulations, Azerbaijan!"

On the other hand, Armenian authorities refuted the claim made by the Azeri president, saying that the fight in and around Shushi is still going on.

“Neither side fully owns the initiative,” Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Ovannisian declared late Sunday.

The city of Shushi holds significant military value because of its geographical location, as it sits on heights about six miles south of the region's capital of Stepanakert and lies along the main road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.