PACE CALLS ON AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA TO COOPERATION IN ISSUE OF MISSING PEOPLE
Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 29 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend A.Gasimova, E.Huseynova / Leo Platvoed,
a co-rapporteur of the Parlamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) on POWs and missing people in the South Caucasus, calls on
Azerbaijan and Armenia to cooperation so that to define fate of people
missed during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
As a result of armed conflicts in the territory of the South Caucasus,
which broke out after the collapse of the former USSR, the place of
7,538 people is still unknown. Some 4,604 people are considered to
be missing in Azerbaijan, 947 in Armenia, 1,763 in Georgia, 197 in
Abkhazia. The data were publicized by the co-rapporteur in a meeting
of a PACE permanent commission in Belgrade on 24 May.
In an interview through telephone Platvoed stressed the importance
of close cooperation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities,
both with the international organizations and local institutions
established in that countries. "There is a commission on search of
missing people in Nagorno-Karabakh, but it cooperated with Armenia,
not with Azerbaijan," he added.
The Azerbaijani State Commission on POWs, Missing People and Hostages
announced in April that there are 4,499 missing people in Azerbaijan.
Over the past 6 months the fate of 70 people have been defined,
of them 36 died as a result of armed actions and were identified by
their parents.
In March Bernhard Clazen, the chairman of the international group on
Missing People, POWs and Captives, said in an interview with Trend that
the international community is prepared to assist the conflict sides in
the resolution of humanitarian problems. The conflict sides will define
which assistance they need from the international community. He also
reminded that the last meeting of the State Commissions on missing
people of Azerbaijan and Armenia was organized in Tbilisi 2005,
wile later no appeal was submitted by any side on the organization
of the meeting.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus appeared in
1988 due to the territorial claims of Armenia against Azerbaijan.
Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven Districts of the country surrounding
it. Since 1992 to the present time, these territories have been
under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active
hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia,
France and USA) hold peaceful negotiations.