Azerbaijan denies holding Armenian POWs

Ayna, Baku
9 Nov 04

Text of Turan’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ayna on 9 November
headlined “There are no ‘Armenian slaves’ in Azerbaijan”

Commenting on an appeal to the OSCE Minsk Group by the Karabakh
Armenians, the Azerbaijani state commission for prisoners of war,
hostages and missing persons has told Turan news agency that Armenia’s
statements that there are Armenian hostages in Azerbaijan, that they
are being used as slaves and concealed from international organizations
under false names are wide of the mark.

The source said that representatives of an international working
group for POWs, hostages and missing persons checked in 1996
whether Armenians were present in quarries and other places
[in Azerbaijan]. Members of the group from Yerevan and Xankandi
[Stepanakert] were also among them. They visited the aforementioned
places and saw no Armenian hostages being used as slaves. Azerbaijan
is ready even now to enable them to search for POWs.

“There is not a single Armenian hostage in Azerbaijan now. All of
them have been handed over to Armenia,” the state commission said.