President plays major role in returning hostage's body
By Sara Rajabova
Return of the dead body of Hasan Hasanov, who was killed by Armenian troops in Azerbaijan's occupied Kelbajar region, was the result of heavy-handed efforts by the Azerbaijani president.
Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Geray Farkhadov made the remark in the funeral procession of Hasanov.
Hasanov, whose dead body was returned to Azerbaijan on October 2, was reburied in Binagadi district of Baku on October 4. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had previously said Hasanov was buried in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
Farkhadov said organizing of the funeral and related expenses will be paid by the executive power of the Jabrayil region where Hasanov was born.
Hasanov's father also thanked the Azerbaijani president for the efforts to return the body of the deceased. Hasanov's body was returned to Azerbaijan due to effective negotiations conducted by the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons with the relevant bodies.
Hasanov was one of the three hostages captured by the Armenian armed forces while visiting the graves of their relatives.
Earlier, Armenian media reported that during an operation carried out on July 11 by Armenian Special Forces in the village of Shaplar of the occupied Kelbajar region, an Azerbaijani citizen Hasanov was killed and two others Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov were taken hostage.
The brother of one of the hostages-Askerov- expressed hope that the other two captives would be released soon.
Armenian authorities haven't released yet any details about the fate of two other Azerbaijani citizens detained by Armenian armed forces in the occupied Kalbajar region despite repeated calls by Azerbaijan and the international organizations. Previously, Armenian media reported that a criminal case has been filed against the Azerbaijani hostages.
The precarious cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was reached after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis and has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994. Since the hostilities, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.