Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16
By Saba Aghayeva - Trend:
Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan has refrained from commenting on the information disseminated in the Armenian media about the hostage-taking of Russian citizen in Kalbajar.
The embassy currently does not comment on such issue, attache of the diplomatic mission Alina Zolotareva told Trend.
Earlier, Armenian media reported that Azerbaijani citizens were detained in the territories occupied by Armenian armed forces. One of the hostages is a Russian citizen, according to the Armenian media.
They were represented by these media as soldiers, but the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry dismissed the reports.
The issue of fate of the Azerbaijani citizens taken hostages in the territory of Kalbajar region, the materials as well as photos and videos which were distributed in the Armenian media, are in the spotlight of the Azerbaijani State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by S.I.