POLITICS
Azerbaijani FM meets regional director of ICRC Patrick Vial
Baku, October 13, AZERTAC
Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov has today met Regional Director of the International Committee of the Red Cross for Europe and Central Asia Patrick Vial.
Patrick Vial expressed pleasure with the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the ICRC which spans more than 20 years and his first trip to the country on sidelines of the visit to the region.
Mr. Vial expressed confidence that the agreement reached at the 2014 Paris meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents on exchange of information about the missing people would give positive results in this area.
Elmar Mammadyarov noted the ICRC's noble work regarding prisoners of war and missing people and said Armenia should demonstrate a constructive position concerning this purely humanitarian issue.
He noted Armenia's aggression and occupation against Azerbaijan caused more than 4,000 Azerbaijanis to become documented missing people and added that most of these people were killed by the Armenians and buried in mass graves in Armenia and the occupied territories.
Mammadyarov also highlighted that international institutions and the co-chairs should increase efforts for the immediate release of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev who were taken hostage by Armenian servicemen while they were visiting the graves of their ancestors in their historical lands.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister said the increase of cases of civilians being shot by Armenian armed forces was unacceptable, noting the incident that occurred Sept.1, 2015 when Armenian armed forces fired from Azerbaijan's occupied territories at civilians taking part in a wedding ceremony in Terter district's Gapanli village is a flagrant violation of international law.
The Azerbaijani top diplomat noted Armenian must withdraw its armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories in order to prevent ceasefire violations and losses along the frontline.
Elmar Mammadyarov also stressed the settlement of Syrians of Armenian origin in Azerbaijan's occupied territories by Armenia was contrary to international humanitarian law, and the issue must be investigated on the basis of the ICRC mandate.
They also discussed other regional issues of mutual concern, as well as the migration crisis in Europe.