Russia expresses regret over loss of life in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By Sara Rajabova
Moscow has expressed regret over that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still claiming more lives.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich called on the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to stick to the joint statement of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents issued on October 27, 2010 on the exchange of dead bodies with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group and the ICRC, "Vesti" TV channel reported.
He also noted the necessity of thoroughly investigating the killing of people in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
Lukashevich expressed condolences to the families of the deceased Azerbaijanis and Armenians and regretted that delay in the conflict settlement is claiming more lives.
Recently, Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with a proposal to exchange hostages between two sides.
Azerbaijan offered Armenia to exchange an Armenian family of five persons, as well as the corpse of an Armenian saboteur, who died of heart failure in return for Azerbaijanis, taken hostage in the occupied Kalbajar region, and Hasan Hasanov's corpse.
However, the ICRC told the Azerbaijani side that the Armenians are willing to exchange only the corpse of murdered Hasan Hasanov for the corpse of the saboteur Karen Petrosyan, according to Hasanov.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said that Petrosyan entered the territory of Azerbaijan to carry out a provocation. He died of heart failure in Azerbaijan.
Three Azerbaijani civilians (Russian citizen Dilgam Asgarov, Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev and Hasan Hasanov) were detained by Armenian forces in early July while they were visiting the graves of their late relatives. ICRC Baku office earlier reported that Hasan Hasanov was buried in Nagorno-Karabakh after being killed by Armenian forces.
Previously, Armenian media reported that a criminal case was filed against the Azerbaijani hostages.
Armenia violated the international legal norms by taking hostage the Azerbaijani civilians as they didn't violate any border law between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They were on their own native Kalbajar region.