FOREIGN MINISTRY HANDLES CASE OF ARMENIAN SOLDIERS CROSSING TO AZERBAIJAN: MINISTER
Trend
March 20 2009
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry is reviewing the case of three
Armenian soldiers who entered Azerbaijan and refused to return home,
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Colonel General Safar Abiyev said on
March 20.
"We appealed to the Foreign Ministry regarding the issue. It is now
in their jurisdiction," Abiyev said.
Armenian soldiers crossed into Azerbaijan in Evciduzu in the Agdam
region at noon on Feb. 28.
The soldiers crossed the contact line in Agdam voluntarily.
The detained soldiers are Grant Markosyan, Artur Varteryan and Alik
Tevosyan.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.