Armenia and Azerbaijan agree on urgent measures to resolve dispute in Nagorno-Karabakh

GENEVA — More than a month after fighting broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, the warring parties agreed on urgent measures to resolve the conflict.

Following a meeting in Geneva between Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, both sides agreed not to deliberately target civilians or non-military areas, in accordance with international humanitarian law, according to a joint statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group.

Both sides agreed to participate in the exchange of bodies on both sides, with security guarantees given to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as providing the two sides with lists of detained prisoners with the aim of access to them and their possible exchange.

They also agreed to maintaining contact relating to a possible ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

It was also reported today that Hussein Abo, a commander of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army’s Hamza Division, was killed by Armenian artillery fire in Nagorno-Karabakh while fighting for Azerbaijan. Abo is the second commander of the Hamza Division to killed fighting in Azerbaijan.

Ankara and Baku still deny the presence of Syrian mercenaries in the conflict despite mounting evidence and growing international outcry.

The Artsakh Republic’s Ministry of Defense also posted footage of an interrogation of what it claims is a Syrian captured in Nagorno-Karabakh after he was injured.

In the video, the man, Mohammed Mahred, admitted that he arrived in the region via Turkey in a group of 250 Syrian fighter after receiving promises of being paid $ 2,000 for their participation in the fighting. They did not receive their money, claimed Mahred.