Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 24
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Eldar Samadov, deputy head of the Working Group of Azerbaijani State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, said Apr. 24 that according to the information he has, two Azerbaijanis – Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev – who are held hostage by Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh region, are experiencing some health problems.
The Commission discussed this issue in detail with international organizations, he said.
Representatives of the international organizations noted that they will conduct the necessary monitoring regarding this issue and even invite international doctors to examine the two Azerbaijani hostages, Samadov added.
The work for releasing the two Azerbaijani hostages continues on the instruction of the Commission’s chairman, Samadov said.
During an operation in July 2014 in Shaplar village of Azerbaijani Kalbajar district occupied by Armenia, the Armenian special forces killed an Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov, and took hostage two other Azerbaijanis, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov.
A "criminal case" was initiated against them. Afterwards, a "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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.