BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. An event on signing a document due to the search for missing persons during the First and Second Karabakh Wars was held at the Cultural Center of Azerbaijan’s State Security Service named after Shahriyar, Secretary of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons Ismayil Akhundov said, Trend reports.
According to him, after the Second Karabakh War, the Commission was tasked to find and exhume human remains of the First Karabakh War.
“In this regard, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons signed a document. According to the document, the International Commission will assist the State Commission in search of disappeared persons.
Meanwhile, six Azerbaijanis went missing during the Second Karabakh War. The Commission received an appeal in this regard as well. Work on the search for the missing is currently underway," Akhundov said.
Delivering a speech at the event, Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons Kathryne Bomberger noted that about 40,000 people went missing during the conflict in the 1990s.
"Some 75 percent of these people have been found. Identification of the missing is possible, it requires joint action of the state and other relevant agencies. It’s important to conduct scientific research in this direction. After arriving in Baku, we met with the Azerbaijani President, the foreign minister and other officials. ICMP believes that our cooperation in the search for missing Azerbaijani citizens will yield high results," Bomberger said.
In turn, Akhundov noted that the protocol of intent was signed by Chairman of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Citizens Ali Naghiyev and Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons Kathryne Bomberger.
According to him, 3,890 people disappeared during the First Karabakh War and six – during the Second Karabakh War.
"We have started working with the International Commission to search for these people," he said.