Shusha, known as the cultural hub of Azerbaijan's Karabakh region, is currently hosting the Khari Bulbul music festival.

Music and dance groups from member countries of the International Organization of Turkic Culture performed at the festival, which started in Shusha's Jidir Plain.

At the opening of the festival music groups and artists from several countries participated. Besides Azerbaijan, the groups were from Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Hungary, Moldova’s autonomous Gagauzia region, Uzbekistan, the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan, Russia's Altai, Khakassia, Yakutia, Tatarstan, and Tuva republics.

At the end of the event, soloists from different countries of the Turkic world sang the composition "Karabakh" together.

The festival, organized jointly by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijan’s Culture Ministry, will continue until May 11.

In Shusha, declared this year's Cultural Capital of the Turkic World, the Khari Bulbul music festival – named after a flower seen in the region – was held every year before the Armenian occupation. The festival was originally established in 1989 to honor the Azerbaijani khananda, a singer of traditional mugham, Seyid Shushinski's 100th anniversary of death.

The festival could not be held during the Armenian occupation period, and the tradition was resumed with the liberation of the lands in the 2nd Karabakh War in 2020.