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Presidential aide: Fate of missing persons remains an issue of humanitarian and national importance for Azerbaijan

30 August 2026 14:11 (UTC +04:00)

Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, has shared a post on the occasion of August 30 – International Day of the Disappeared, APA reports.

The post reads:

“For Azerbaijan, the fate of missing persons remains an issue of profound humanitarian and national importance. As a result of the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, 4,010 Azerbaijani citizens remain registered as missing persons. The issue is under the attention of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and is kept under constant supervision. In accordance with the tasks set by the head of state, the State Commission continues its systematic efforts to locate missing Azerbaijani citizens, discover, exhume and identify their remains, as well as return them to their families, who have lived with uncertainty for decades.

“Witness testimonies are being verified, suspected burial sites are being investigated, mass graves are being excavated and opened, while the remains discovered are examined through forensic and DNA analyses. To date, 32 mass graves have been discovered, and the identities of 328 missing persons have been established through DNA analysis. In this regard, it is of crucial importance that Armenia provide accurate and comprehensive information on the fate of missing Azerbaijanis, including the locations where they were buried. Such cooperation is, first and foremost, a humanitarian obligation and is essential to ending the uncertainty that thousands of families have endured for decades.

“Despite difficult terrain and weather conditions, as well as the dangers posed by mines and unexploded ordnance, search operations continue with the use of all available resources and advanced technologies. Every family has the right to know the fate of their loved ones. Every missing person has a name. Every family deserves answers.”