Written declaration No. 458 | Doc. 12397 | 06 October 2010

The need to return the corpses of Azerbaijani soldiers to their state

Signatories: Ms Ganira PASHAYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Aydin ABBASOV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Mr Ruhi AÇIKGÖZ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Lokman AYVA, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Erol Aslan CEBECİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Mustafa DZHEMILIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Sabir HAJIYEV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Serhiy HOLOVATY, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Rafael HUSEYNOV, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Oskars KASTĒNS, Latvia, ALDE ; Ms Birgen KELEŞ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Ertuğrul KUMCUOĞLU, Turkey, EDG ; Ms Nursuna MEMECAN, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr Yüksel ÖZDEN, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Mehmet TEKELİOĞLU, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Özlem TÜRKÖNE, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Mustafa ÜNAL, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

Mubariz Ibrahimov a non-commissioned officer of the Azerbaijani Army, was shot down by Armenian military personnel on 18 June 2010 when fighting back the Armenian armed forces that broke the ceasefire in the Azerbaijani territories under their occupation and launched an assault on Azerbaijani settlements on the opposite side. Armenian soldiers took the corpse of Mubariz Ibrahimov with them and refused to give it back to the Azerbaijani side. A few days later, the photos of his corpse were installed on the Internet. Since then, the Armenian authorities refuse to return Mubariz Ibrahimov’s corpse, ignoring the efforts of the Azerbaijani Government and the International Red Cross.

Farid Ahmadov, another Azerbaijani officer, shared the same fate on 4 September 2010. The Armenian side refuses to return his corpse to Azerbaijan too.

Nevertheless, during the visit to the region by the International Red Cross spokesperson, Armenians confirmed that they had kept the corpses of the above-mentioned persons.

By stressing the contradiction of the above-mentioned cases with international law norms, notably their negative impact on the sensitive negotiation process towards peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, the Assembly calls for the return of the corpses of Mubariz Ibrahimov and Farid Ahmadov to Azerbaijan.