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BODIES OF TWO AZERI SOLDIERS SWAPPED FOR DEAD ARMENIAN VILLAGER
BY LUSINE MUSAYELIAN
by Asbarez
Monday, November 8th, 2010
STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)-Military authorities in the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic handed over the bodies of two Azerbaijani soldiers and
received an Armenian corpse on Saturday, in a fresh swap stemming
from an agreement reached by Armenia's and Azerbaijan's president
late last month.
Gavrush Arustamian, an 85-year-old resident of a village in
northeastern Karabakh, went missing earlier this year in unclear
circumstances. Local officials and residents believe that he
drowned in a nearby river, which presumably washed away his body to
Azerbaijani-controlled territory.
The Azerbaijani servicemen, Lieutenant Farid Ahmedov and Ensign
Mubariz Ibrahimov, were buried on Sunday in a funeral attended by
President Ilham Aliyev. The latter bestowed the title of "national
hero" on Ibrahimov in July, shortly after he was killed in fighting
with Karabakh Armenian forces.
In a speech at the funeral service, Aliyev paid tribute to the two
"martyrs" and renewed his threats to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict by force. "We can restore the country's territorial integrity
by military means at any moment," he said. "The enemy must know and
knows that."
The June firefight, which also left four Armenian soldiers dead,
heightened tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani "line of contact"
on the border of Karabakh and Azerbaijan, especially its northeastern
section. Deadly skirmishes there appear to have been more frequent
in recent months.
Ahmedov, 24, and another Azerbaijani officer were shot dead in early
September in what the Karabakh Armenian military described as a failed
commando raid on its positions in the northern Martakert district.
Ahmedov's corpse was shown on Karabakh and Armenian television as
proof of that attack.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry insisted, however, the two officers
were killed while repelling an Armenian attack. It also says that
Ibrahimov, 22, died in similar circumstances.
Karabakh officials said initially that Ibrahimov was shot dead in
Armenian-controlled territory. But faced with Azerbaijani demands
for his body's repatriation, they claimed afterwards that it is lying
in no-man's lands. "If the Azerbaijanis want to retrieve his corpse,
they should go to that neutral territory and retrieve it," a spokesman
for Karabakh President Bako Sahakian told RFE/RL's Armenian service
in late September.
In a statement on Saturday, a Karabakh government commission on
prisoners of war and missing persons described the repatriation
of Ahmedov's and Ibrahimov's bodies, mediated by the International
Committee of the Red Cross, as a gesture of good will. It made no
mention of an October 27 joint statement issued by Aliyev and Armenia's
Serzh Sarkisian after their fresh talks hosted by Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev. The two leaders pledged to exchange "without delay"
all POWs and bodies of soldiers and civilians killed in the conflict
zone.
Last Thursday, Armenia freed an Azerbaijani civilian and received
the body of one of its citizens who died in Azerbaijani captivity
last month. That swap was also carried out with the ICRC's help.
Azerbaijan is currently holding six Armenian POWs. According to the
Defense Ministry in Yerevan, there are presently two Azerbaijani POWs
in Nagorno-Karabakh and none in Armenia proper. It is not yet clear
whether they too will be exchanged soon.
From: A. Papazian
BY LUSINE MUSAYELIAN
by Asbarez
Monday, November 8th, 2010
STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)-Military authorities in the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic handed over the bodies of two Azerbaijani soldiers and
received an Armenian corpse on Saturday, in a fresh swap stemming
from an agreement reached by Armenia's and Azerbaijan's president
late last month.
Gavrush Arustamian, an 85-year-old resident of a village in
northeastern Karabakh, went missing earlier this year in unclear
circumstances. Local officials and residents believe that he
drowned in a nearby river, which presumably washed away his body to
Azerbaijani-controlled territory.
The Azerbaijani servicemen, Lieutenant Farid Ahmedov and Ensign
Mubariz Ibrahimov, were buried on Sunday in a funeral attended by
President Ilham Aliyev. The latter bestowed the title of "national
hero" on Ibrahimov in July, shortly after he was killed in fighting
with Karabakh Armenian forces.
In a speech at the funeral service, Aliyev paid tribute to the two
"martyrs" and renewed his threats to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict by force. "We can restore the country's territorial integrity
by military means at any moment," he said. "The enemy must know and
knows that."
The June firefight, which also left four Armenian soldiers dead,
heightened tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani "line of contact"
on the border of Karabakh and Azerbaijan, especially its northeastern
section. Deadly skirmishes there appear to have been more frequent
in recent months.
Ahmedov, 24, and another Azerbaijani officer were shot dead in early
September in what the Karabakh Armenian military described as a failed
commando raid on its positions in the northern Martakert district.
Ahmedov's corpse was shown on Karabakh and Armenian television as
proof of that attack.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry insisted, however, the two officers
were killed while repelling an Armenian attack. It also says that
Ibrahimov, 22, died in similar circumstances.
Karabakh officials said initially that Ibrahimov was shot dead in
Armenian-controlled territory. But faced with Azerbaijani demands
for his body's repatriation, they claimed afterwards that it is lying
in no-man's lands. "If the Azerbaijanis want to retrieve his corpse,
they should go to that neutral territory and retrieve it," a spokesman
for Karabakh President Bako Sahakian told RFE/RL's Armenian service
in late September.
In a statement on Saturday, a Karabakh government commission on
prisoners of war and missing persons described the repatriation
of Ahmedov's and Ibrahimov's bodies, mediated by the International
Committee of the Red Cross, as a gesture of good will. It made no
mention of an October 27 joint statement issued by Aliyev and Armenia's
Serzh Sarkisian after their fresh talks hosted by Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev. The two leaders pledged to exchange "without delay"
all POWs and bodies of soldiers and civilians killed in the conflict
zone.
Last Thursday, Armenia freed an Azerbaijani civilian and received
the body of one of its citizens who died in Azerbaijani captivity
last month. That swap was also carried out with the ICRC's help.
Azerbaijan is currently holding six Armenian POWs. According to the
Defense Ministry in Yerevan, there are presently two Azerbaijani POWs
in Nagorno-Karabakh and none in Armenia proper. It is not yet clear
whether they too will be exchanged soon.
From: A. Papazian