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.
