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Azerbaijani foreign ministry calls for Armenia’s openness with missing persons

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 27 February 2015 14:32 (UTC +04:00)
Armenia must demonstrate openness and transparency in the issue of Azerbaijani people missing during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told reporters Feb. 27.
Azerbaijani foreign ministry calls for Armenia’s openness with missing persons

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 27

By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:

Armenia must demonstrate openness and transparency in the issue of Azerbaijani people missing during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told reporters Feb. 27.

"More than 4,000 Azerbaijani people were missing as a result of Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan," he said.

"An agreement on the hostage exchange by the sides and information about missing persons was reached at the French president's initiative during a meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Paris in 2014," he said.

"Armenia still continues ignoring the agreements and the corresponding appeals of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)," Hajiyev said.

"There are some families in Azerbaijan waiting for the news about their missing relatives for more than 20 years," he said. "While holding a destructive position, Armenia continues ignoring its obligations in this regard."

"The so-called trial over two Azerbaijani people, taken hostage by Armenians in the Kalbajar district, is illegal," he said.

"Azerbaijan will continue working with international organizations to release the hostages," he said.

During an operation in the Shaplar village of Azerbaijan's occupied Kalbajar district on July 11, 2014 Armenian forces killed an Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov, and detained two other Azerbaijanis, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov. A criminal case was filed against them.

Afterwards, the so-called court in Nagorno-Karabakh sentenced Asgarov to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years in prison.

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 US are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Edited by CN

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