Azeri rep says no “kamikaze” children in occupied district, criticizes
journalists

ANS TV, Baku
7 Jun 04

[Presenter] The Azerbaijani representative of the international working
group to release POWs and hostages and to trace missing persons, Avaz
Hasanov, who has visited Nagornyy Karabakh via Armenia, has already
returned to Baku and is the quest of “Xabarci” [programme]. Let us
now go to ANS’s conference hall. Good evening, Avaz muallim [form
of address].

[Avaz Hasanov, captioned] Good evening.

[Presenter] Avaz muallim, tell us about your trip to Nagornyy Karabakh?

[Hasanov] Representatives of the international working group have paid
15 visits to Karabakh. We have always visited Karabakh via Armenia
as we are involved in tracing hostages and POWs both in Armenia
and in Nagornyy Karabakh on the eve of the visit [as heard]. For
this reason, we first visited Azerbaijan, then Armenia and Nagornyy
Karabakh via Armenia.

[Presenter] What was the main goal of your visit? Did you manage to
achieve it?

[Hasanov] Our visit mainly aimed to trace Azerbaijani hostages and
missing persons. During the visit we wanted to clarify reports received
from the Azerbaijani state committee for hostages and missing persons,
international organizations, NGOs and parents. At the same time, we
were involved in clarifying several newspaper reports and information
provided by two Armenian fugitives who are now in Baku. According to
those reports, there are hostages in several Armenian districts. We
tried to identify those areas, visited the places and looked into
the reports. We failed to verify the information we had.

[Presenter] You were banned from visiting Lacin [Azerbaijani district
under occupation] and you could not visit the facilities where kamikaze
children are [reportedly] being recruited. As an Azerbaijani what
were your feelings?

[Hasanov] I was not allowed to go to Lacin. Other representatives
of our international working group, cochairmen and coordinators
from Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh visited Lacin. Before the visit
to Lacin in the morning we phoned Nagornyy Karabakh to ask for
an explanation. We were told that they were ordered to ban me from
visiting Lacin. They did not explain why. We informed the Azerbaijani,
Armenian and Russian mass media of this. Unfortunately, neither
Azerbaijani nor other media outlets carried this information. I regret
that the newspapers, which are circulating information against me,
did not publish this. The issue remains unclear for us as well. They
have published whatever they wanted to publish about me here.

[Presenter] Avaz muallim, are there any kamikazes in Lacin?

[Hasanov] I repeat that we [as heard, presumably I] did not visit
Lacin’s kindergarten and the cochairmen of the international working
group went there. There is a kindergarten in Lacin, we found out about
it from an American. Naturally, the children there were Armenians. The
information we received could not be confirmed.

[Presenter] Avaz muallim, do you really believe in the importance of
such visits?

[Hasanov] Let the people first prove that such visits are not
important. After this, I would say whether I believe in their
importance or not. Azerbaijan has about 5,000 hostages and missing
persons. We have not been in contact with Armenia over the past 10
years. The international working group has been cooperating with
state bodies, international public organizations, the International
Committee of Red Cross and the OSCE over the past four years. We are
using our opportunities to trace hostages and missing persons. At
times of war, they used to announce truce to exchange hostages and
corpses. Do you think that such visits are not important to Azerbaijan
which has 5,000 hostages.

[Presenter] Avaz muallim, were you happy with the way the Armenians
treated you?

[Hasanov] To be frank, I am dissatisfied with the Armenians’ attitude.
However, I am also not happy with Azerbaijani journalists. I am
displeased with the people who phoned my home to scare off and
reproach my mother by telling her that I had allegedly been taken
hostage and they would do their best to release me. As a result,
for three days my mother was bedridden. I am mainly unhappy with
Azerbaijani journalists who have forgotten about professionalism
and have resorted to this. For instance, the news agency Olaylar has
issued a statement [interrupted by the presenter]

[Presenter] – Avaz muallim, could you please answer our last
question. When are you planning to pay your next visit to the area
and which route will you take?

[Hasanov] We will take the same route as before and take this in
view [as received]. The Azerbaijani government, the Azerbaijani state
working group, the state committee [for hostages and missing persons],
including the foreign ministry and the presidential administration,
were well aware of the route and they read our reports. We will take
the same route to Nagornyy Karabakh. We will inform Azerbaijan of
our next visit.

[Presenter] Thanks.