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By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The Council of Europe is trying to help developments in view of the Azerbaijani hostages’ situation, according to a top CoE official.

A swift talk at the PACE plenary meeting between the Azerbaijani diplomat at PACE and a top CoE official revealed the political organization's official approach towards the Azerbaijani captives' issue.

In a session in Strasbourg on April 21, Ganira Pashayeva, member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, raised the issue of Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov, ethnic Azerbaijanis taken hostage illegally in the occupied territories last year.

Addressing CoE Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, Pashayeva said Asgarov and Guliyev faced "inhuman" treatments when they were taken hostage a few months ago by the separatist regime that was created in the occupied Azerbaijani lands.

She added that the Yerevan-backed regime in Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized by any country and violates all norms of international law in view of the captures' detainment.

"Despite so many calls from the international community, the two men are still being kept as hostages. Mr. Secretary General, their families are expecting your support, asking you to take actions to save them. As the secretary general, what actions can you take to secure their release?"

In response, Jagland voiced his serious concerns saying that he is following the matter closely.

"What can I do? If I tell you what I can do, maybe it will not yield any result. But I assure you that I am following developments on the matter very closely and that I am trying to help the situation change in a positive direction," Jagland said.

Three Azerbaijanis - Hasan Hasanov, Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev - were captured in the Shaplar village of Azerbaijan’s occupied Kalbajar district on July 11, 2014 by the Armenian special forces. Hasanov was reported killed after enduring brutal torture.

Later on, Asgarov and Guliyev were judged in a show trial in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region and subsequently sentenced to life in prison and 22 years imprisonment respectively, on trump up charges.

Coming to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement, Jagland said the CoE fully supports the OSCE Minsk Group's brokering efforts and activities to attain a peaceful end to the conflict.

In a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan on April 22, the CoE top official called on Armenia and Azerbaijan not to miss the opportunities for dialogue over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement.

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh was sparked after Armenian troops invaded large swathes of land in Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. Following bloody skirmishes, Armenia armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized and historical territory.

The conflict has yet to be resolved since Armenia has systematically refused to abide by international calls to withdraw from the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other adjacent regions.

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