Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 5

By Samir Ali – Trend:

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives didn’t visit in August Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, Azerbaijani hostages detained by Armenia in the course of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports Sept. 5 referring to the Public Relations Department of the ICRC Azerbaijan Office.

"In July, the ICRC representatives again visited individuals detained in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We keep visiting people detained in relation to the conflict on a regular basis. According to its mandate, the ICRC visits detained individuals to monitor treatment and conditions of detention and help to ensure that the detainees are able to maintain contact with their families. The last visit took place at the end of July. There was no visit in August," said the ICRC Azerbaijan Office.

During an operation in July 2014 in Shaplar village of Azerbaijani Kalbajar district occupied by Armenia, the Armenian special forces killed an Azerbaijani Hasan Hasanov, and took hostage two other Azerbaijanis, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov. A "criminal case" was initiated against them. Afterwards, a "court" sentenced Asgarov to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years in prison.

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, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.