Turkish Bars Association calls for release of Azerbaijani hostages in Armenia

7 October 2019 11:22 (UTC+04:00)

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The Turkish Bars Association has called for the release of Azerbaijani hostages Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, illegally held in Armenian captivity.

Metin Feyzioglu, President of the Turkish Bars Association, made the remarks at the international conference "Strong and authoritative advocacy - the present challenges" held in Baku on October 4.

He stated that the Turkish Bars Association is ready to provide support to the Azerbaijani Bar Association if it receives an appeal on the release of the two Azerbaijani hostages.

Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, IDPs from Azerbaijan's occupied Kalbajar region, were detained by Armenian forces while visiting their native places and graves of loved ones in Kalbajar back in 2014. A third Azerbaijani who was with them, Hasan Hasanov, was killed in the same operation. Asgarov and Guliyev were later persecuted by the courts in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh regime and sentenced to life imprisonment and to 22 years in jail respectively.

Feyzioglu expressed regret that the world community continues to remain silent about Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. Feyzioglu pointed out that the Azerbaijani Bar Association and the Turkish Bars Association will work together to make the world know about the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands by Armenia and the injustice against Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan's main goal is to free its lands from occupation, and the major task of the upcoming meeting in Nakhchivan is to send this message to the world,” he stressed.

Important decisions on organizing the exchange of experience will be made at the joint meeting of the boards of two structures to be held Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, according to his words.

The conference "Strong and authoritative advocacy - the present challenges" is jointly organized by the Azerbaijani Bar Association and the German Society for International Cooperation as part of the events dedicated to 100th anniversary of Azerbaijani Advocacy.

The representatives of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, MPs, chairmen and judges of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and other courts, heads and representatives of prosecution and justice bodies, heads and members of bar associations of Azerbaijan and more than 20 other countries, representatives of the Council of Europe, UN and other international organizations, as well as representatives of the state bodies and NGOs, the legal community attended the conference.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94