Azerbaijan's State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons said Monday that it transferred the bodies of 13 Armenian soldiers to Yerevan.
"On Nov. 28 of this year, 13 bodies belonging to Armenian servicemen discovered as a result of the search operations in the area were examined with the participation of the employees of the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan," read a statement from the commission.
The bodies were transferred to Armenia "with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross" and "in accordance with norms of international humanitarian law" after examinations established no signs of violence on them.
On Sept. 20, Azerbaijan handed over the bodies of 95 Armenian soldiers killed in border clashes, which it says were caused by the "provocation" of the Armenian Army.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions.
Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia. However, the cease-fire has been broken several times since then.
Meanwhile, the president of Azerbaijan exchanged views with a senior U.S. diplomat on Monday about the South Caucasus country's normalization of ties with Armenia and negotiations for a peace treaty between them.
"At the meeting, views were exchanged on the meeting held in Washington at the level of foreign ministers regarding the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and negotiations on a peace treaty," the office of President Ilham Aliyev said in a statement.
It added that Philip Reeker, U.S. senior adviser for Caucasus negotiations, conveyed the greetings of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with Aliyev expressing his gratitude for the greetings and responding in kind.
"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's constant attention to the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan was highly appreciated," the statement further noted.
Earlier this month, Blinken hosted talks in Washington between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers on a possible peace treaty between the two countries. Separately, the EU's special representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, reflected on talks held on Nov. 17 between Aliyev and an EU delegation.
Noting that are many challenges, Klaar said on Twitter that Aliyev had committed to the "EU-facilitated format" of talks with Armenia.
"Restraint and strong political will be needed by Azerbaijan and Armenia to reduce tensions to achieve a comprehensive settlement," he added.
Aliyev had received the EU delegation led by Dirk Schuebel, the bloc's special envoy for its Eastern Partnership initiative, pointing out the need to modernize bilateral talks under the EU effort.
