Baku hands over back to Yerevan missing Armenian serviceman
By Vugar Khalilov
Baku has handed over back to Yerevan a missing Armenian serviceman, Coordinator of the Information Center for Azerbaijani Captives and Hostages Ahmad Shahidov said on October 6.
Armenian serviceman Artur Davidyan went missing on August 22, 2021, on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.
On August 22, the Armenian Defence Ministry said that at about 21:00 (GMT+4) Sr-Lt Artur Davidyan left the place of permanent deployment without permission and after a while contact with him was lost.
The Karabakh peace deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders in November 2020, stipulates the exchange of prisoners and bodies of soldiers following the 44-day war.
The first exchange took place on December 14 based on the "all for all" principle to mutually return prisoners of war and hostages agreed with Armenia as a result of negotiations with the participation of international organizations and Russian peacekeeping forces.
On June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in formerly-occupied Aghdam.
On September 20, Baku handed over back to Yerevan two Armenians who earlier crossed into the Azerbaijani territory.
Some 4,000 Azerbaijanis are still missing, including 719 civilians, among them, 326 elderly, 267 women, and 71 children as a result of Armenia's aggression. Their plight still remains unknown.
A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10 brought an end to 44 days of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.
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