Armenia turned down Azerbaijan's proposal on exchanging captives

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry has proposed the Armenian Defense Ministry to exchange an Armenian family consisting of 5 persons and the corpse of an Armenian that are being kept in Azerbaijan with Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov who are in Azerbaijani captivity as well as the corpse of Hasan Hasanov, said Ali Hasanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee on Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov, APA reports.Ali Hasanov said he is regularly meeting with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and met once again yesterday to discuss this issue: “This issue is dealt with by the Defense Ministry, the State Commission on Prisoners of War and Hostages, and the State Committee on Refugees and IDPs on a regular basis. Yesterday, I met with representatives of the ICRC again. Members of the ICRC Baku Office informed us of the Armenian Defense Ministry’s response to Azerbaijan’s latest proposal. The Armenian Defense Ministry told us that they agree on exchanging an Armenian family and the corpse of the Armenian who had suddenly passed away recently with only Hasan Hasanov’s body. And I, in my turn, told them that I don’t agree with this and want the release of our captives as well”.Ali Hasanov said Azerbaijan’s proposal is still valid and that they are waiting for Armenia’s response.Ali Hasanov also noted that during his meeting with ICRC representatives, he expressed his harsh objection against its position: “Whenever the ICRC makes a request on prisoners and war hostages, Azerbaijan responds to it. But the Armenian side doesn’t ensure such requests. Why is that the Headquarters of the ICRC doesn’t inform the world community about it?”Bakudaily.Az