ICRC engaged in talks to release Azerbaijani teenager
By Sara Rajabova
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives have met with the 15-year old Azerbaijani citizen, Javid Mammadov detained by the Armenian armed forces in Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Head of Public Relations Department of Azerbaijani representation of the ICRC Ilaha Huseynova told Trend news agency on September 10 that ICRC briefed Javid's family about his condition.
Huseynova noted that the ICRC is holding talks with the parties of the conflict, adding however that the details of the talks are not disclosed yet.
"His release depends on the agreement of all parties. If all sides reach an agreement on the issue, the ICRC is ready to step in the return operatiion as a neutral mediator," Huseynova said.
Javid Mammadov was taken hostage by Armenian soldiers near the village of Chayli in the Tartar region on September 5.
Azerbaijan's Human Rights Commissioner Elmira Suleymanova had appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to pave the way for releasing the Azerbaijani teenager.
Huseynova said ICRC representatives also visited an Armenian citizen who crossed the border in the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan on September 8.
Fifty-three year old Armenian citizen Sarkis Ananyan had illegally crossed the state border of Azerbaijan on August 26.
She stressed that the ICRC representatives informed the Armenian government about their meeting with the detainee's family members.
The precarious cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia 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.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.