Baku offers “all-for-all” exchange of hostages

T"As you know, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev always pays attention to the issue of the release of prisoners of war and hostages, and by taking decisive steps to resolve this painful, complicated issue, he was able to achieve the release of a number of citizens or return of their bodies. The Chairman of the State Commission Madat Guliyev also spoke in detail about this issue at the last meeting held on November 1. Madat Guliyev noted during the meeting that he was a supporter of the principle of the exchange of prisoners of war and hostages on the basis of the "all for all" principle. I believe that this is not only a good idea, but also a very humane approach to solving the problem," the Azerbaijani MP said.

He said if the current leadership of Armenia shows at least a little constructiveness and is not indifferent to its citizens, then there will be no serious problems in the implementation of this proposal.

"I think that it is necessary to inform all international agencies, especially the relevant OSCE institutions, of such a humane proposal of Azerbaijan so that the international community would realize who and how behaves in regard to such a humanitarian issue," Guliyev said.

He went on to say that the OSCE PA should express its position on this issue.

“I would like to say that our delegation constantly raises a question about prisoners of war and hostages at sessions of the OSCE PA. At the last autumn session of the OSCE PA, which took place in Bishkek on October 3 - 6, I, together with the Chairman of the OSCE PA General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Margareta Kiener Nellen separately discussed the issue of Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev illegally taken hostage by the Armenian side,” the OSCE PA vice-president noted.

Guliyev expressed hope that in the near future there will be an opportunity to get acquainted with the position of the committee’s chairman and her further steps in regard to this issue.

"I expect an answer from her as the chairman of the committee. In addition, on December 4-8, it will be possible to discuss this issue in detail at a meeting of the OSCE PA Bureau in Milan. I believe that there is enough ground to support the proposal of Azerbaijan to exchange prisoners of war and hostages on the basis of the "all for all” principle. I will also, in the framework of my authorities and capabilities, make efforts to achieve such support," the Azerbaijani MP said.

Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons established in 1993 to eliminate the problem of prisoners of war and missing persons operates as part of the norms of international humanitarian law joined by Azerbaijan, in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other relevant international bodies.

Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons has registered 13 people as missing in recent months.

These Azerbaijani citizens went missing in the course of intensive military operations in 1992-1993. To this day, 3,888 people are registered with the State Commission as missing.

Upon completion of work to clarify the list of persons missing as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the State Commission is working to clarify the list of released hostages and persons held captive.

The number of hostages released so far is 1,480 people.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

As a result of Armenia's armed invasion into Azerbaijan's legal territory, the two neighboring countries have remained locked in a bitter territorial dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia-backed separatists seized from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the early 1990s.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the NagornoKarabakh and the surrounding districts.

Despite Baku's best efforts, peace in the occupied lands remains a mirage in the distance as Armenia refuses to comply with international law.