"Perpetrators Must Be Held Accountable" — State Department On Mass Grave From 1990s War Found in Nagorno-Karabakh

"We are appalled by the loss of life over the course of this decades-long conflict and extend our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and injured," State Department's principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Thursday when asked about a mass grave that Azerbaijan said has discovered in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Many families have suffered and lost loved ones over the course of this conflict, and even as we, through our engagement, try to look through a different future, these families deserve accountability and closure for the losses they have suffered," Patel told the daily press briefing, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Baku says its soldiers who were allegedly executed by Armenian troops in the 1990s are buried in the grave.

Patel went on saying that perpetrators "must be held accountable; to reach peace, heal, accountability is needed."

"And we continue to support international efforts to promote truth and reconciliation, and we believe that these processes can run tandem with the ongoing peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which they have committed to themselves as well," he concluded.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.