Azerbaijan and Armenia exchange bodies of soldiers and Turkish-Russian talks to establish a monitoring center in Karabakh

Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged the bodies of soldiers who died in the clashes that took place around the city of Shusha in Nagorny Karabakh province last week.

And the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said - in a statement today, Saturday - that the Russian soldiers present in the region returned the remaining bodies of Armenian soldiers on the battlefield to Armenia, while "Azerbaijan received 6 bodies of its martyrs who fell in the battles."

On October 29, Azerbaijan returned the bodies of 30 Armenian soldiers to their country, who were killed during the clashes between the two countries.

In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the completion of the deployment of 12 observation points for Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh.

The ministry said - in an official statement - that "the Russian military police begin patrolling the northern and southern regions of the Karabakh region."

Last Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Azerbaijan and Armenia had reached an agreement providing for a ceasefire in Karabakh, with the two countries' forces remaining stationed in their current areas of control.

The agreement also provides for Azerbaijan to regain control of 3 provinces occupied by Armenia, within a specific period of time, which are like Al-Baggar on November 15, Agdam on the 20 of the same month, and Lachin on December 1.

Ankara talks

In a related context, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that the talks with the Russian delegation on establishing a joint center to monitor the ceasefire in the Karabakh region will continue Saturday in Ankara for the second day in a row.

The ministry added in a statement that the Armenian occupation of Karabakh ended with the ceasefire agreement, on November 10.

And she added that Turkey and Russia reached an agreement on November 11 to establish a joint center to monitor the ceasefire in Karabakh, noting that discussions between the two countries are continuing to determine the shape of the center.

She stressed the need for Armenia to implement the terms of the agreement and withdraw from the rest of the occupied Azerbaijani lands, noting that it is closely following the situation in Karabakh and will not allow any concessions, expressing its readiness to provide various types of support to Azerbaijan when necessary.

Armenians burn their homes

On the ground, the French News Agency said that Armenian residents in the villages that Azerbaijan is scheduled to regain control on Sunday in Nagorny Karabakh set fire to their homes on Saturday before their departure to Armenia.

"It is the last day for us here. Tomorrow the Azeri soldiers will come," said a soldier from the village of Sharkhtar in the Kalbgar area that will be handed over to Baku.

"This is my house, I cannot leave it to the Turks," as the Armenians call the Azeris, one of the homeowners said grimly as he was throwing burning boards and wet rags with fuel in an attempt to set fire to the living room floor of his empty house.

On Friday, at least dozens of homes were set ablaze in the village itself and surrounding areas.

Statistics of damages

In Baku, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, said, "His country will invite the relevant United Nations organizations to assess and count the damage caused by the Armenian attacks on Karabakh and its surroundings."

He added that the Azerbaijani government will grant a new home to every Azeri family that lost its home during the recent escalation in the region and its surroundings.

The Azerbaijani authorities accuse the Armenian forces of causing 93 civilians to be killed, 410 injured and about 3,500 homes and buildings destroyed in various Azeri regions.

For his part, Arayk Harutyunyan, President of the unrecognized Karabakh region, called on residents of the region who sought refuge inside Armenia to return to the cities that remained under Armenia's control, after the agreement signed between it and Azerbaijan.

"For those who lost their homes, housing will be provided," Harutyunyan said, "and work will be done to solve their problems, whether in terms of work or repair of electricity and communication networks."