Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 24
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Despite the announcement of the ceasefire in 1994, unfortunately, Azerbaijan continued to record the facts of killing of Azerbaijani children by Armenians, and since that period until now, 34 children became victims of the Armenian terror, 14 of whom died and 20 were wounded, Hijran Huseynova, chairman of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, said Nov. 24.
Huseynova noted that 175 children were killed, and hundreds of children were wounded during this military conflict.
“During the conflict, Azerbaijan was able to release 214 children from captivity and hostages, 66 children went missing, and 29 children are still being kept as hostages,” she said.
The protection of children’s rights has always been a priority for the Azerbaijani state, even in the most difficult years of restoration of its independence.
One of the first international documents, which Azerbaijan joined, was the Convention on the Rights of the Child, added the committee chairman.
“Using the opportunities provided by this document, the Azerbaijani government was able to inform the international community about the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia and about 300,000 children, who became refugees and internally displaced persons,” said Huseynova.
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.