Azernews.Az

By Aisha Jabbarova

Azerbaijan demands return of its three citizens that remain in Armenian captivity, Head of the Working Group of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Citizens Eldar Samadov has told local media.

All three hostages have been registered by international organizations.

Samadov said that Azerbaijan has so far returned 54 Armenian hostages to Armenia in line with the trilateral agreement signed on November 10.

“Six of them were detained in Azerbaijan before September 27, 2020. In addition, two elderly Armenian civilians, who were left helpless in the war zone by the Armenian armed forces, died in a hospital in Azerbaijan despite the efforts of doctors and their bodies were handed over to Armenia through international organizations.”

Azerbaijan unilaterally handed over to Armenia nine Armenians on October 29, December 2, December 9 and December 11 in line with President Ilham Aliyev’s instructions and with the facilitation of Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry, the OSCE and the ICRC, Samadov said.

The official also said that the process of removing the bodies of servicemen from both sides of the conflict zone continues through international mediation.

Fourteen Azerbaijani citizens were returned from the Armenian captivity on December 14 as part of the all-for-all prison exchange between the two countries. Azerbaijan returned 44 Armenian hostages on that day.

The exchange was facilitated by Russian peacekeepers that have been deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under the peace agreement.

The November 10 trilateral agreement signed between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, followed the 44-day-war that started with Armenia’s firing at Azerbaijani positions and civilians.