BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30. Azerbaijan has
handed over the remains of more than 2,000 Armenian servicemen
found on the battlefield to Armenia since November 2020, without
any sense of revenge, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur
Mammadov said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.


He made the remark at the international conference on "Modern
approaches and strengthening cooperation in resolving the issue of
missing persons" in cooperation with the International Commission
on Missing Persons (ICMP).


According to him, Azerbaijani servicemen carried out searches of
the bodies of Armenian soldiers in difficult weather conditions and
under high mine danger.


"One of the most important conditions for achieving lasting
peace in the post-conflict period is the resolution of this
problem. Missing persons in armed conflicts are a tragedy that
leaves a deep mark not only on individual families, but also on
entire societies. The UN Secretary-General's report 'Protection of
Civilians in Armed Conflicts' presented in May 2025 also identified
the failure to respect international humanitarian law as one of the
main reasons for the large number of human casualties in numerous
conflicts around the world. This reality once again confirms that
the issue of missing persons is one of the priority issues not only
on the national agenda, but also on the global humanitarian
agenda.


International humanitarian law imposes serious obligations on
states to prevent missing persons in armed conflicts, as well as to
clarify their fate. The 1949 Geneva Conventions and their
Additional Protocols require parties to the conflict to establish
the fate of missing persons, search for the dead, identify human
remains, and treat them with dignity," he explained.







The deputy minister noted that the reality Azerbaijan is facing
is a clear example of a gross violation of these humanitarian
norms.


"The solution to the problem of missing persons requires joint
efforts and transparent cooperation of not only one country, but
also all parties. Azerbaijan, guided by the principles of humanism,
has always declared that this issue is an important component of
the peace and confidence-building process. As evidence of this,
this issue is currently in the spotlight within the framework of
the peace process. Article 9 of the draft peace agreement initialed
in Washington on August 8, 2025, is dedicated to determining the
fate of missing persons directly at the initiative of the
Azerbaijani leadership. Since February 2025, direct contact
mechanisms have been established, and discussions have been held
with the relevant Armenian commission without any third party,"
Mammadov said.


The official pointed out that in addition to the work done at
the national level, Azerbaijan also makes significant contributions
to keeping the problem of missing persons on the international
agenda.