Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

The State Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People is implementing measures to receive the body of Azerbaijani soldier Chingiz Gurbanov, the State Commission said in a message on December 30.

The State Commission says Armenia carries all the responsibility for the provocation at the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border.

"The Armenian side has once again demonstrated disrespect for the norms of international humanitarian law by distributing photos of the body of the Azerbaijani soldier killed in combat in the media and social networks, and used abusive language against the Azerbaijani people and the mentioned soldier,” said the message.

The ministry said in the message that the Armenian side openly demonstrates its inhumane essence, and grossly violates the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, which it had also joined.

A reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces tried to violate the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border on December 29 morning. The Armenian group found itself in the ambush of the Azerbaijani army while violating the borders.

The enemy was forced to retreat, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's message.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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