Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani MP Ganira Pashayeva has called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to exert pressure on Armenia to release Azerbaijani nationals Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov from the captivity.

Armenian special forces killed Azerbaijani citizen, Hasan Hasanov and took hostage Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov in the Shaplar village in the occupied Kalbajar region last July, while they were visiting the graves of their relatives. Following a so-called “judicial process" Dilgam Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Shahbaz Guliyev to 22 years in prison.

“We have raised this issue at the previous sessions of PACE,” Pashayeva said.

“Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland, answering our questions, said that he makes efforts in this direction. However, hostages Guliyev and Askerov, captured by Armenians, have not yet been released. Despite all the appeals, including appeals to the Council of Europe, there is still no change, and these people are still being held in captivity. Their families are waiting for support from the Parliamentary Assembly. We urge the organization to make more efforts for their release,” the MP said.

She noted that the PACE should not remain indifferent to the rights of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani IDPs, violated by Armenia for more than 20 years.

The PACE should use all mechanisms of influence and pressure to protect the violated rights of these people, she noted.

The bloody Nagorno-Karabakh War, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor, left homeless over a million civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh, the regions adjoining it, and the regions bordering without homes.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 were reported missing, almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

The sides reached a cease-fire in May 1994, but long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far. Armenia has not implemented any of the four U.N. Security Council's resolutions calling for its troops to withdraw from all occupied territories.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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