As a result of measures taken by the State Commission on Captives, Missing Persons and Hostages through the ICRC and with the participation of representatives of the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Union of Forensic Medicine and Pathological Anatomy of the Ministry of Health, on February 12, near the city of Shusha the Armenian side handed over the remains of 7 bodies allegedly belonging to the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, who went missing during the First Karabakh War.
The bodies will be handed over to family members after the completion of urgent procedures to identify the remains.
Speaking to ARB24 Television, human rights defender Ahmad Shahidov said that 3,890 Azerbaijanis were missing during the First Karabakh War and the fate of those people is still unknown: “Although Azerbaijan has repeatedly raised this issue at the international level, the Armenian side was reluctant to provide any information about the fate of Azerbaijani captives and missing persons, ignoring international legal norms. Armenia, defeated in the Second Karabakh War, is forced to comply with the conditions dictated today. From this point of view, the political will of the Azerbaijani state is already yielding results, and I believe that as a result of Mr. Ilham Aliyev’s iron fist principle, we will be able to find and return our people missing during the First Karabakh War.”