Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.15
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
Russia's position regarding Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, Azerbaijanis taken hostage by Armenia in Kalbajar upsets Azerbaijan, Ali Hasanov, deputy prime minister, chairman of Azerbaijani State Committee for Refugees and IDPs told reporters April 15.
He reminded that one of the Azerbaijanis taken hostage by the Armenians is a Russian citizen.
Hasanov added that the family members of the hostages have appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking to take measures to release them, unfortunately, Russia didn't take any steps in this issue.
The official said that Russia has every right to demand the extradition of its hostage and at least achieve his transfer to the Russian prison.
He added that the Azerbaijani side has repeatedly raised this issue, however, unfortunately, this issue still remains open.
Touching upon the appeal of the NGOs to the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the hostages, Hasanov said he doesn't believe that this issue will be positively resolved. He said currently a huge injustice predominates in the world.
"I don't believe that the European Court and Russia will resolve this problem," Hasanov added.
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.
Earlier, "the court" 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 the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.