Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan and Armenia, the two South Caucasus countries locked in long-standing conflict, have reached a new agreement on the exchange of captives, the Azerbaijani state body on captives has said.

Shahin Sayilov, the spokesman for the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, said Armenia will repatriate Azerbaijani junior sergeant Anar Hajiyev, while Azerbaijan will hand over Armenian civilian Artur Badalyan on Thursday. The transfers, to be facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), will take place near Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region.

This follows an agreement to swiftly finalize the exchange of captives reflected in a joint statement issued by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan after their Russian-brokered talks in Sochi on March 5.

Anar Hajiyev was captured by Armenian armed forces on May 10, 2009. Another Azerbaijani serviceman, junior sergeant Roman Huseynov, has been in Armenian captivity since August 27, 2010.

Artur Badalyan is among nine Armenian citizens being held in Azerbaijan. These include three military men and six civilians, according to the Azerbaijani commission’s spokesman.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war that ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since then. Peace talks brokered by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.