Azerbaijan urges int’l organizations to help return soldier’s body

6 January 2017 17:58 (UTC+04:00)

2 409

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan has urged international organizations to stop Armenia’s inhumane activity, take the necessary measures for it to comply with the requirements of the Geneva Convention and return the body of the killed Azerbaijani serviceman, reads a statement issued by the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People on January 6.

The necessary work together with the relevant government agencies continues for returning the body of Azerbaijani Armed Forces soldier Chingiz Gurbanov, who was killed during the prevention of the Armenian sabotage on December 29, 2016.

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. During the fighting, serviceman Chingiz Gurbanov went missing

The enemy was forced to retreat, suffering losses, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Although a week has passed after these events, the corresponding Armenian structures prefer to remain silent on this matter, showing no reaction towards this humanitarian problem, Azerbaijan’s state commission noted.

“This proves once again that Armenia, by acting based on public opinion inside the country, is trying to gain time in order to obtain political dividends,” the statement reads.

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.

---

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