Throughout modern history the city of
Shusha, known to Armenians as Shushi, mainly fostered a mixed Armenian–Azerbaijani population. Following the
Shusha massacre in 1920, the Armenian population of the city was mostly killed or expelled, and the city reduced to a town with a dominant Azerbaijani population. Stepanakert, located in the
Karabakh Plateau, was the capital of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), with an
Armenian majority, and an Azerbaijani minority. According to the
1979 Soviet census, the city had a population of 38,980 people, mostly of Armenians, who constituted 87% of the total population, and more than four thousand Azerbaijanis. On March 1, Armenian refugees from
Sumgayit arrived in Stepanakert, following the
Sumgait pogrom. The exchange of populations took place as a result of clashes in Khojaly. In Stepanakert Armenians burned Azerbaijani houses, while in Shusha Azerbaijanis burned Armenian houses. A crowd of 600 people threatened to burn down houses of Armenians, destroyed their property. The expulsion of
Azerbaijanis in
Stepanakert also began on September 18, 1988, == References ==