Turkish officials pledge support for tracing missing persons in Azerbaijan

Turkish officials have emphasised that the issue of missing persons is not merely a historical concern, but a pressing humanitarian matter requiring international cooperation.

Türkiye’s Deputy Minister of Justice, Hurşit Yıldırım, underlined the global and human significance of the issue, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

“Azerbaijan is hosting its third conference dedicated to missing persons, and the government attaches great importance to this event. The topic is critically important — locating missing or forcibly disappeared individuals and providing hope to their families is a fundamental question of humanity,” he said.

Yıldırım also highlighted Azerbaijan’s painful historical experience with missing persons and pointed to Türkiye’s progress in the field, particularly in forensic examination.

“The Turkish experience has gained high international recognition, and we aim to share our expertise. Each case involves real human lives — families, children, mothers, memories. It is vital to locate these people, even if they have passed away, to reunite them with their families and establish identities through DNA analysis,” he added.

Meanwhile, Türkiye’s Deputy Minister for Family and Social Services, Zafer Tarıkdaroğlu, stated that Türkiye is ready to assist Azerbaijan in tracing missing persons. 

Speaking at the international conference in Baku on “Uniting Efforts and Expanding Cooperation to Address the Issue of Missing Persons”, he noted the ongoing global scale of the problem.

“Conflicts around the world continue to leave vast numbers of people missing and separated from their families. In the Korean War, Türkiye lost more than 2,000 people, and the fate of 167 citizens remains unknown. We are unequivocally against wars and conflicts,” Tarıkdaroğlu said. He also recalled that over 4,000 Azerbaijani citizens went missing during the First Karabakh War.

On October 9, Baku hosted an international conference titled “Uniting Efforts and Expanding Cooperation to Address the Issue of Missing Persons” as part of the Baku Dialogue. The event was organised by Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons, with participation from relevant national and international institutions.

A message from President Ilham Aliyev was read to attendees, followed by a speech from Ali Naghiyev, head of the State Security Service and chairman of the State Commission. Naghiyev outlined the government’s commitment to clarifying the fate of missing citizens, noting that 3,990 individuals remain registered as missing. He reported that remains of 218 people have been exhumed from 29 mass graves in recently liberated territories, and 187 missing persons have been identified and returned to families. A new mass grave was recently discovered in the village of Balligaya, Aghdara district.

The conference also highlighted provisions in the draft Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, signed in Washington in August, aimed at cooperation on missing persons.

By Aghakazim Guliyev