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Qabil Ashirov

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An international conference titled "Modern Approaches and Strengthening Cooperation in Resolving the Issue of Missing Persons" was held at the Gulustan Palace in Baku on Tuesday under the framework of cooperation with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), AzerNEWS reports.

The event was organized by Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons and brought together senior government officials, international experts and representatives of relevant institutions.

Among the speakers were Deputy Head of the State Security Service, Lieutenant General Sharafat Hasanov; Secretary of the State Commission and head of its Working Group, Gazanfar Ahmadov; Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov; ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger; and representatives from the Health Ministry, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences and parliament.

Addressing the conference, Hasanov said that, as of June 30, 2026, a total of 4,010 people have been officially registered as missing as a result of Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan.

According to him, 4,004 of the missing persons disappeared during the First Karabakh War, while six went missing during the 44-day Second Karabakh War in 2020.

Of the total number, 3,228 are military personnel and 782 are civilians. Among the civilians are 71 minors, 288 women and 319 elderly people.

Hasanov noted that Azerbaijan began collecting biological samples from relatives of missing persons in 2014 under a framework agreement signed in 2008 between the State Commission and the Azerbaijan representation of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Since 2023, the process has been carried out by the Genetic Research Center established within the Military Medical Department of the State Security Service on the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev.

As of June 30, 2026, biological samples from 11,542 donors related to missing persons cases have been collected and systematized, with DNA profiles extracted and archived by the Genetic Research Center.

The Azerbaijani official stressed that the nearly 30-year occupation of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories prevented the clarification of the fate of many missing citizens.

Following the 2020 war and the anti-terror measures conducted in 2023, the identification of burial sites, excavation and exhumation work in the liberated territories became one of the top priorities set by President Aliyev for the State Commission.

Searches, excavations and identification efforts began intensively in February 2021. To date, remains believed to belong to 893 missing persons have been discovered.

Hasanov said that 32 mass graves have been uncovered in the liberated territories, from which remains believed to belong to 253 individuals have been exhumed in the presence of investigative authorities.

As a result of forensic molecular genetic examinations, the identities of 327 people who went missing during the First Karabakh War have been established. Information regarding 226 of them has already been made public, and their remains have been returned to their families and buried in accordance with national and religious traditions.

Among those buried were 181 military personnel and 45 civilians. Of the identified civilians, 14 were women and two were children.

Hasanov also announced that the remains of several more identified missing martyrs would be handed over to their families in the coming days.

He emphasized the important role played by the International Commission on Missing Persons, expressing hope that continued and purposeful cooperation with the organization would create new opportunities to clarify the fate of Azerbaijan's missing citizens.