Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.15
Trend:
Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have visited Azerbaijani hostages, who were detained during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, ICRC Baku Office's Public Relations Department head Ilaha Huseynova said.
ICRC representatives visited the Azerbaijani hostages once again in December. "During the visit, the conditions of detention and treatment of detainees were monitored," Huseynova 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.
In February 2017, Azerbaijani citizen Elnur Huseynzade was taken hostage by Armenians in the direction of Talish village under unknown circumstances.
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 withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.