Effective work to identify mass graves impossible without demining - Azerbaijani envoy

The families of almost 4,000 missing Azerbaijani citizens are waiting for justice and effective work to identify the mass graves of the missing in Azerbaijan is impossible without demining the liberated territories, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Netherlands Rahman Mustafayev said.

He made the remarks at a meeting with the International Commission on Missing Persons’ (ICMP) Board of Directors held in The Hague on June 21, Report informs referring to the Azerbaijani embassy in the Netherlands.

During the meeting, the ambassador informed his interlocutors in detail about the post-conflict situation in the region, Azerbaijan's efforts to normalise relations with Armenia, to revive the cities and villages of the Karabakh region liberated from the Armenian occupation, and to clear the liberated territories from mines,

"We are holding our meeting on the eve of the Day of Remembrance for the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, during which about 8,000 Bosnian civilians were killed," the Azerbaijani diplomat said, adding that the number of Azerbaijani citizens missing during the conflict is almost half the number of victims of the massacre in Srebrenica.

He noted that despite that, international attention to this problem, which is very sensitive for Azerbaijani society, is clearly not enough.

According to him, more active support from the EU and international organisations is needed for Azerbaijan's mine clearance efforts and search for missing persons.

At the same time, he expressed his gratitude to the ICMP Council members and Director General Kathryne Bomberger for supporting Azerbaijan's efforts in solving this humanitarian problem.

For their part, the members of the ICMP board of directors expressed their gratitude to the Azerbaijani government for the excellent organisation of the visit of the assessment mission to Azerbaijan.