02/24/2021 Armenia (International Christian Concern) – The location and details of the Grey Wolf school opening in Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh have been released. Turkish President Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev will jointly attend the school groundbreaking. Shushi is one of the Armenian territories given to Azerbaijan in the negotiations following the Nagorno-Karabakh War (Armenian: Artsakh).
Armenians are immensely concerned about the school’s opening, considering its origin in the Grey Wolves. The Grey Wolves is a national, extremist pan-Turkism group with political affiliates to Turkey’s National Movement Party (MHP). MHP leader Devlet Bahceli proposed the building of the school at a meeting in late January during a meeting with Azerbaijan leadership as part of their initiative to rebuild and recreate the Shushi region in Azeri fashion. The new school will fly both the Turkish and the Azeri flags.
Following the Turkish-Azeri invasion in November 2020, the city’s name changed from Shushi to Shusha, as part of attempts to dismantle the Armenian Christian heritage. The new school will highlight the military victory that many saw Shushi to be. A large flower will be placed on the front of the school, symbolizing Shushi as a flower of victory and freedom in the eyes of Azerbaijan. This school will promote pan-Turkism, driving out the Christian heritage and identity.
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