Information of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons

An international conference on missing persons was held.

On October 9th, another international conference on “Uniting efforts and enhancing cooperation for addressing the issue of missing persons” was held within the framework of the Baku Dialogue on Missing Persons, organized by the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing persons of the Republic of Azerbaijan (State Commission) and with the participation of representatives of institutions operating in the relevant field.

First, the address of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, to the participants of the international conference was read, then the Chief of the State Security Service (SSS), Chairman of the State Commission, Mr. Ali Naghiyev, made a speech.

The Chief of the Service informed about the purpose and importance of the international event on missing persons, which is being organized for the third year, expressed gratitude to the President Ilham Aliyev for his support in holding the conference, and noted the resolute and principled position of our Head of State on the issue of clarifying the fate of our missing citizens.

Highlighting, that the State Commission currently has 3,990 people registered as missing persons and the remains of 218 people believed to belong to them have been discovered and exhumed from 29 mass graves discovered during excavations in the liberated territories, the Chief of the SSS, Mr. Ali Naghiyev, brought to the attention that 187 of the missing persons have been identified and handed over to their families and that another mass grave has been discovered in the Balligaya village of the Aghdere region as a result of search and excavation activities.

The Chairman of the State Commission stated that Article 9 of the draft “Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia” initialed on August 8, 2025 in Washington, the capital of the United States of America provides for the implementation of mutual activities in the field of determining the fate of missing persons and he expressed hope that contacts between the relevant state commissions of Azerbaijan and Armenia which have been ongoing on a regular basis recently, as well as the expansion of cooperation with relevant international organizations, will contribute to this process.

Lateron, other participants made speeches on the topic of the conference, panel sessions were held, and a signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the State Commission and the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held.