(MENAFN- AzerNews) A group of foreign bloggers representing more than 10 countries
– including the USA, France, Spain, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Turkey,
and Egypt – is currently visiting Shusha within the framework of
the 'Show Me Azerbaijan' project initiated and
implemented by the Eurasian Regional Center of the Islamic
Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF-ERC).
The Shusha City State Reserve Department's chief specialist
Ismayil Ismayilov welcomed the visitors and gave them information
on the city's historical and cultural sites as well as the heroism
of the Azerbaijani soldiers, who liberated the city from the
Armenian occupation. The bloggers also visited the city's
vandalized (shot by rifles) monuments, the mansion of Khurshidbanu
Natavan, the castle of Shusha, the mausoleum of Vagif, the mansions
of the nobles, as well as the Jidir Plain. On their YouTube
channels, foreign bloggers shared a number of videos showing their
impressions of Shusha.
In addition, D. Bernard shared a video from Shusha with his
YouTube subscribers. In the video, D. Bernard expressed his grief
for the settlements destroyed during the occupation period and his
hope that they would be rebuilt quickly. According to Egyptian
blogger Amr Al-Aghizi, dwellings in Shusha and Fuzuli were razed to
the ground during the war, and as a result, Fuzuli became a 'ghost
city.' Bloggers Diska Resha Putra from Indonesia and Asel Akmetova
from Kazakhstan both highlighted areas, where landmines were
planted in their videos. Blogger Marina Gomez from Spain called
Shusha 'Azerbaijan's city of great musicians and poets' and
expressed her admiration for the nature of this city.
The master class training of renowned American blogger Douglas
Bernard was held as the second component of the program during the
visit to Shusha. He discussed the importance of blogging in today's
world and the knowledge he has learned over the years. He presented
the 'Show Me Azerbaijan' project, the role it
plays in conveying the truths of Azerbaijan and Karabakh to the
international community, and the recent rise in interest in the
project. Aydan Baghirli, a representative of ICYF-ERC, gave a
presentation to bloggers about the organization she works for. The
bloggers were informed about the international initiatives carried
out since ICYF-ERC's founding, particularly, the efforts made to
promote Muslim youth solidarity. The bloggers expressed their
appreciation for the ICYF-ERC's work and promised to share the
Center's activities with their fellow citizens once they returned
home.
The project's ( Show Me Azerbaijan – International
Bloggers Shusha Camp ) primary objective, as previously
stated, is to introduce foreign bloggers to Karabakh's natural and
cultural landmarks, historical sites, heritage sites proving
Shusha's irreplicable role in the Azerbaijani identity. Dedicated
to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan's designation of
this year as the 'Year of Shusha', this visit to Shusha aims at
informing foreign bloggers about the destruction of settlements and
heritage sites as a result of the Armenian occupation, as well as
the restoration and reconstruction work being carried out in the
post-occupation period, in order to raise global awareness.
It should be noted that, upon the initiative of the Eurasian
Regional Center of ICYF, the same project was successfully carried
out last year. Thus, within the framework of the 'Show Me
Azerbaijan' project, 13 bloggers from 8 countries, including 3
well-known video bloggers from Algeria and the USA, visited the
territories liberated from occupation and shared their visual
content about the settlements and historical monuments destroyed as
a result of the Armenian occupation. More than seven million people
watched these video reports. One of the main goals of the project
is to increase the number of video reports made by bloggers about
Karabakh and the number of views of them by the end of this
year.
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