Azerbaijan has proposed that the Armenian side provide relevant DNA samples to identify human remains discovered in the “liberated territories” that are believed to belong to Armenian servicemen. Ali Naghiyev, Chief of the State Security Service and Chairman of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of Azerbaijan, stated this at the Fourth International Conference held in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, within the framework of the Baku Dialogue on Missing Persons, Azerbaijani local media report.

He said examinations found no match between the DNA profiles of 50 ethnic Armenians reported missing and submitted by Armenia in January 2026 and the remains that had been discovered.

“We [i.e. Azerbaijan] are ready to collaborate to identify the fate of the missing persons of both sides. However, accurate and complete information is necessary to achieve a result. Armenia must provide all data on the fate of missing Azerbaijanis, the places of mass and individual burials, as well as create conditions for opening archives and collecting eyewitness testimonies,” Naghiyev said.

He noted that since February 2025, the aforesaid Azerbaijani state commission has maintained direct contacts with the corresponding Armenian commission. Within the framework of these contacts, meetings have been held and information has been exchanged.

The Azerbaijani side has transferred to Armenia a list of 834 Azerbaijani citizens who were captured or taken hostage during the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s and kept secret from international organizations. These data are based on information from various sources and eyewitness testimonies. Detailed data have been provided on 104 of them.

“We have also transferred data on 54 of our citizens who were officially registered by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The bodies of 17 of them have been returned. The bodies of 33 people who allegedly died in detention have not been transferred, and there is no information about the fate of four others. These families are still waiting for answers," Naghiyev said.