Children, women, old people still held hostage by Armenians

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

From more than 1 million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons, over 400,000 are women and more than 300,000 are children, Hijran Huseynova, Chairwoman of Azerbaijan State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, said on September 20.

She noted that during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Azerbaijan achieved the release of 1,114 people who were held hostage and captive by the Armenian side.

“There are 223 children, 363 women and 224 old people among them. Rehabilitation work is very important for their integration into society,” Huseynova said.

The chairwoman added that 29 children, 98 women and 112 old people still remain hostage.

“Their fate is still unknown, which we are very worried about,” Huseynova said. She appealed to civil societies and international organizations to pay special attention to this issue.

The chairwoman also reminded that the genocide committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis in Khojaly was recognized by ten countries of the world.

The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan, led to occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions by Armenian armed forces. In a brutal war, more than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia repeatedly refused to submit information regarding the fate of thousands of Azerbaijanis who went missing or were taken hostage during the war.

Azerbaijan has many times declared its readiness to begin negotiations with Armenia to free the captives and resolve the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, the Armenian side keeps ignoring all attempts of Azerbaijan and international organizations, thereby disrespecting the international law and hindering the settlement of the conflict.