PanARMENIAN.Net – Director of Armenia’s National Security Service, Armen Abazyan, said efforts are continuing to secure the return of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) held in Azerbaijan.
“I can’t say whether we’ll have results tomorrow or in a month, but rest assured—work is in progress,” Abazyan told reporters, according to RFE/RL.
He welcomed a recent meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives from commissions focused on missing persons, calling it a “positive development.”
“They discussed the fate of the missing, the possibility of joint search operations, and other related issues. A preliminary agreement was reached to ensure continued cooperation,” Abazyan said.
According to him, early agreements have been made between Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities to carry out joint efforts aimed at determining the fate of those missing from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
*The previous meeting was held on February 7, 2025, at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The sides exchanged views on clarifying the fate of missing persons and agreed to continue discussions with mutual consent between the commissions.”
Since 2020, Armenia has handed over the bodies of 51 Azerbaijanis killed during the 44-day war, as well as the remains (bones) of 140 Azerbaijanis who died in the 1990s. Armenia continues to raise the issue of around 1,200 missing persons. According to official data, 993 Armenians have been considered missing since the early 1990s. Approximately 200 Armenian soldiers went missing after the 44-day war.