Armenia lauds preliminary deal with Azerbaijan on missing persons search

Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached a preliminary agreement to continue collaborative efforts in locating missing persons, marking a rare instance of constructive engagement between the two sides.

Armen Abazyan, Director of Armenia's National Security Service, confirmed the development following a meeting between the two countries’ respective commissions on missing persons, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

"Yes, the meeting took place. It is the second one already. Issues related to the fate of missing persons, possible search works were discussed. A preliminary agreement was reached to continue this work. I assess the meeting positively," Abazyan stated.

Although no definitive timeline has been established for the commencement of joint search operations, Abazyan's remarks signal cautious optimism regarding the humanitarian dialogue between the two sides.

The latest meeting, which builds on the initial talks held on February 7, focused on clarifying the status of individuals who remain unaccounted for due to decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, most recently the 2020 Second Karabakh War and prior hostilities in the 1990s.

According to Azerbaijan’s State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, a total of 3,983 Azerbaijani citizens are officially listed as missing due to Armenia’s military actions. Of these, 3,977 individuals vanished during the First Karabakh War in the 1990s, and six more during the 2020 Second Karabakh War. The missing include 3,209 servicemen and 774 civilians — 3,698 men and 285 women.

Since the end of active hostilities, Azerbaijan has documented the release of 1,702 captives, including 419 military personnel.

In efforts to account for the missing, Azerbaijani authorities have recovered 187 sets of human remains from mass graves identified throughout Karabakh. An additional 309 remains were uncovered incidentally during reconstruction and clearance efforts in the region. So far, 170 individuals have been identified from these findings.

By Vafa Guliyeva