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AZERBAIJANI STATE COMMISSION CLARIFIES TRANSFER OF ARMENIAN POWS TO THIRD COUNTRY
Trend
May 1 2012
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing
Persons made a clarification on the transfer of three Armenian POWs
to a third country.
In their statement to the press, the commission said that three
Armenian POWs kept in Azerbaijan said they did not want to return
home and would prefer to be sent to a third country, head of the
State Commission's working group Firudin Sadigov told Trend on Tuesday.
"Since they are not considered our contingent, the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees will deal with this issue," Sadigov said.
Spokesman of Azerbaijani Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees Elsever Agayev, in turn, told Trend that although the issue
of transfer of POWs to a third country is under the jurisdiction of
the Commissioner, its staff does not have the authority to disclose
any information about individuals which is regarded as confidential.
It should be noted that Armenian media outlets reported the transfer
of three POWs by Azerbaijan to a third country. At present, five
civilians who are members of an Armenian family are being kept in
Azerbaijan. There is one Azerbaijani POW in Armenia.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. -
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
Trend
May 1 2012
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing
Persons made a clarification on the transfer of three Armenian POWs
to a third country.
In their statement to the press, the commission said that three
Armenian POWs kept in Azerbaijan said they did not want to return
home and would prefer to be sent to a third country, head of the
State Commission's working group Firudin Sadigov told Trend on Tuesday.
"Since they are not considered our contingent, the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees will deal with this issue," Sadigov said.
Spokesman of Azerbaijani Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees Elsever Agayev, in turn, told Trend that although the issue
of transfer of POWs to a third country is under the jurisdiction of
the Commissioner, its staff does not have the authority to disclose
any information about individuals which is regarded as confidential.
It should be noted that Armenian media outlets reported the transfer
of three POWs by Azerbaijan to a third country. At present, five
civilians who are members of an Armenian family are being kept in
Azerbaijan. There is one Azerbaijani POW in Armenia.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. -
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.