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Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: Francis Farrell On the southeastern outskirts of the hilltop city of Shusha, a narrow street lined with the forlorn ruins of old stone houses gives way to an open grassy field. Walking in the direction of a distant opposite cliff face, the land abruptly begins to drop away underfoot, opening into a dramatic gorge hundreds of metres deep. Among the grass on the edge of the ravine, great blocks of karst jut out in near-perfect rows to form a natural grandstand on which locals gather to drink tea and watch the sunset. In the early days of November, these cliffs, and the mountains stretching to the south became the new front line in the renewed outbreak of bitter war over Nagorno-Karabakh. On 8 November, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced the capture of Shusha (Shushi in Armenian), adding; “We have won this historic victory on the battlefield, not at the negotiating table.” The announcement has been met with jubilation in Azer ....