Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Baku has warned the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about failure to arrange a meeting with the Azerbaijani civilians taken hostages by Armenia in occupied Kalbajar region.

"If ICRC fails to meet with the Azerbaijani hostages in a short time, we will take serious measures against ICRC representation, including its expulsion from the country," Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov told local media.

Three Azerbaijani civilians (reportedly Russian citizen Dilgam Ahmadov and Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliyev and Hasan Hasanov) were detained by Armenian forces reportedly on July 10 while they were visiting the graves of their late relatives.

Armenia violated the international legal norms by taking hostage the Azerbaijani civilians as they hadn't violated any border law between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They were on their own native land which has been under Armenia's occupation since 1993.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

Hasanov said, immediately after Armenian media reports on the refugees, the president took this matter under his control and instructed the relevant state bodies to follow the issue closely.

"On his behalf, I met with the leadership of ICRC's Baku office. ICRC contacted with its offices in Yerevan and Khankendi. But, it has not yet managed to meet the hostages," he said.

"The ICRC usually becomes active when Armenian hostages appear at the Azerbaijani side, the ICRC appeals to the Azerbaijani government and immediately provides meeting.Now we are wondering why the international body has remained passive so far failing to meet Azerbaijani refugees?"

Hasanov further said the Armenian side violates international regulations on treatment of captives and hostages.

"If the Armenian leadership treats badly with Azerbaijani hostages, the hatred between the nations will increase even more," he underlined. "The Armenian leadership and special services must understand that Azerbaijan will not close eyes to cruelty to its compatriots."

Meanwhile, the ICRC Baku office reported that it continues dialog with the sides on Azerbaijani hostages.

The fate of Azerbaijani hostages is also in the European Union's spotlight.

"The union is closely following the issue of Azerbaijani hostages," the EU press service told Trend on July 18.

"Circumstances regarding the detained citizens are still unclear for us," the EU press service said, adding that the matter needs to be checked with the ICRC, because it is looking into the case specifically.

"They have more information than we have. We are following this closely. At the moment we don't have any clarity," the press service noted.

The OSCE Minsk Group which has been involved in peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not yet commented on the issue.

Azerbaijani Parliament's Deputy Speaker Bahar Muradova called on OSCE Minsk Group, as well as OSCE PA special representative on South Caucasus to step into the fray.

Taking hostage of Azerbaijanis and putting them on trial are not legal under any regime, she said.

Muradova noted the move does not correspond neither to the principles of international laws, nor the laws of Armenia. "Armenia is a completely different state and Kalbajar region does not have anything to do with Armenia," she said.

The Armenian side in turn keeps violating the international norms. Furthermore, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said the Armenian side will mine all possible ways leading from Azerbaijan to the occupied Kalbajar region.

He also said that the Ministry intends to distribute weapons among the population in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.