Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 12
Trend:
Lusine Abovyan, a 73-year-old Armenian civilian, was handed over by Azerbaijan Nov. 12 in an operation carried out under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the committee said Nov. 12.
Abovyan was handed over to the Armenian side on the road between the Azerbaijani district of Gazakh and the Armenian town of Ijevan, on the international border.
Acting as a neutral intermediary and in accordance with its mandate, the ICRC facilitated this handover together with the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities. In a conversation with the ICRC representatives before the handover, Abovyan expressed desire to return home. The ICRC representatives were also in contact with her family before the handover.
Abovyan violated the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border in the direction of the Gazakh district Nov. 6, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said Nov. 9. She was detained by Azerbaijani armed forces on the front line.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Trend