Baku urges EU to raise issue of Azerbaijani hostages

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s top diplomat and European Union envoy have discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, putting a special emphasizes on the issue of the release of Azerbaijani nationals from Armenian captivity.

Elmar Mammadyarov met with Helbert Salber, the special representative of the EU for the South Caucasus on April 29.

They discussed the current state of negotiations towards the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stressing the unacceptability of the current status-quo.

Mammadyarov also touched upon the issue of the release of Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov, two ethnic Azerbaijanis who were illegally taken hostage in the occupied territories last year. He expressed the importance of raising this issue before both the European Union and the international community.

The minister voiced concern over the health conditions of the captives.

Salber, for his part, said the issue of release of the two Azerbaijani hostages will be raised again in discussion with Yerevan.

Armenian special forces killed Azerbaijani citizen, Hasan Hasanov and took hostage Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov in the Shaplar village in the occupied Kalbajar region last July, while they were visiting the graves of their relatives. Following a so-called “judicial process" Dilgam Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Shahbaz Guliyev to 22 years in prison.

Furthermore, stressing that more than 4000 people went missing as a result of Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov said Armenia should provide information on their fate as supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and based on humanitarian considerations.

He added that through DNA analysis, missing persons could now be identified and thus, their family and close relatives could be informed of their fates.

Mammadyarov further stressed that dialogue between Azerbaijani and Armenian communities from Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region is an important confidence-building measure which can serve toward the resolution of the conflict.