Armenia unveils new details about Azerbaijani prisoner’s whereabouts
By Vafa Ismayilova
Armenia has unveiled new details about the whereabouts of Azerbaijani prisoner Dilgam Asgarov, the prisoner’s son has said.
Dilgam Asgarov and another Azerbaijani, Shahbaz Guliyev, were taken hostage by Armenians in Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar region in 2014. Both prisoners were transferred from the prison in Shusha city, Nagorno-Karabakh, to Armenia, Asgarov's son Kurdoglu earlier said, quoting the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Kurdoglu reported that his father was first transported to Armenia’s Goris region and later to Shirak.
"As the staff of the ICRC told me yesterday, the Armenians kidnapped my father Dilgam Asgarov from the Shusha fortress and took him to Goris. After staying there for some time, on November 13 he was taken to Shirak. According to official information, my father is currently held in the Artik prison in Shirak," he said.
The prisoner's son added that ICRC staff visited Dilgam Asgarov in Shirak.
"They informed me immediately after the meeting. According to their information, everything is fine, my father is under the constant ICRC attention," he said.
In July 2014, during an operation carried out by Armenian special forces in Shaplar village of occupied Kalbajar region, Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov was killed, and Shahbaz Guliyev and Russian citizen Dilgam Asgarov were taken, hostage. All of them intended to visit their native places and the graves of their relatives. A "criminal case" was initiated against Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov. Then the so-called court sentenced Asgarov to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years in prison.
About 20 per cent of Azerbaijan's territory – including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions – had been under Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.
Armenia failed to implement four UN Security Council resolutions that urged the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the invading forces from the occupied territories.
On November 10, Baku and Yerevan signed a Russia-brokered agreement to end fighting and work towards a comprehensive solution. Under the deal, all Armenians have to withdraw from Kalbajar until 25 November.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hailed the agreement as a victory for his country and a defeat for Armenia, saying Baku's military success enabled it to gain an upper hand to end the three-decade occupation of its territory.
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