Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
The body of an Azerbaijani soldier, Bahruz Jalilbayli, who left the place of service at his own will after committing a military crime, was taken by the Armenian side, Eldar Samadov, deputy head of work group of Azerbaijan’s State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, told reporters in Baku Nov. 28.
Currently, negotiations are underway with relevant structures in order to return Jalilbayli's body to the Azerbaijani side, said Samadov.
He added that the public will be informed in the coming days.
Earlier, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said in a message that the body of the Azerbaijani serviceman, Bahruz Jalilbayli, was found on the contact line at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in the direction of the Ordubad District of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, near the positions of the Armenian armed forces on Nov. 23.
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.