OSCE thanks ICRC for assistance in returning Azerbaijani soldier’s body

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Austrian chairmanship of the OSCE has on its official Twitter account expressed gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for its efforts in returning the Azerbaijani soldier’s body.

The remains of Azerbaijani soldier Chingiz Gurbanov were returned from Armenia to Azerbaijan in a transfer facilitated by the ICRC on February 5. The handover took place on the road between the Armenian town of Ijevan and the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh at the Azerbaijan-Armenia border.

On December 29, 2016, a reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces attempted to violate the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border. The Armenian group found itself in the ambush of the Azerbaijani army while violating the borders and suffered heavy losses. During the fighting, serviceman Chingiz Gurbanov went missing. Later, it was clarified that he was killed by the Armenian Armed Forces and his body remained on the territory controlled by the Armenian Armed Forces.

After the incident, the Azerbaijani side officially appealed to the Azerbaijani representation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), OSCE Minsk Group, as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk in order to return the body. Despite this, the Armenian side for over a month refused to return the body.

OSCE’s Austrian chairmanship also urged the sides to recall the Astrakhan agreement.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed the Astrakhan agreement in October 2010, which is of humanitarian nature and provides for the return of prisoners of war.

The document was signed as a result of talks between the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, then President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in Astrakhan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement.

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, in 1992 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.