Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross have visited an Azerbaijani soldier held in Armenian captivity, ICRC Baku Office spokesperson Ilaha Huseynova told Trend news agency on August 26.

According to Huseynova, the Azerbaijani soldier was informed about how his family is doing. He also had a chance to convey information about himself to his family.

Firuz Farajov, a soldier of the Azerbaijani armed forces born in 1992, got lost on the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops near Azerbaijan's Tovuz region on July 26, 2012 and was captured by Armenian armed units.

Ten days ago, during his meeting with ICRC representative Dragana Rankovich, Armenia's First Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan said the Azerbaijani captive wants to return home.

Moreover, Armenian armed forces recently captured an ethnic Azerbaijani Georgian citizen. Georgia's Foreign Ministry is holding talks with Armenia on repatriating him.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. A precarious ceasefire was reached after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis and has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994. Since the hostilities, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.