Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan answered the question on the work being done to return the captives. The sister of one of the captives held in Azerbaijan specifically asked about the captives from Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd, in particular, “why did they come there if those lands were handed over?”
“The relatives of the prisoners of Khtsaberd have raised the issue during dozens of personal meetings with me, saying why the soldiers were there if those territories were handed over. I have made it clear many times that these territories were not surrendered, that these territories should be de jure the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers, under their control, that the armed forces remained in the positions they should have been based on the trilateral statement. You remember, there were a lot of discussions at that time, the problem is that the area was the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. A criminal case has been initiated in connection with the circumstances of the capture. If I am not mistaken, charges have been filed against the commander," Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan noted that Azerbaijan's policy of not returning the captives is aimed at discrediting the activities of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor.
“I emphasize this during our meetings with our Russian counterparts, because more than 90% of the captives confirmed today have been captured after the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in their area of responsibility. We first of all, and Russia and the entire international community must make an extra effort to ensure the return of our captive brothers.
We continue to raise this issue in all working discussions on international platforms. We also have lawsuits on this issue in international instances, we will be consistent so that all our captured brothers return to Armenia,” Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan stressed that Azerbaijan is trying to politicize humanitarian issues.
Referring to the number of prisoners, the Prime Minister said.
“We distinguish between two groups of captives, a group about which the Azerbaijani authorities and international organizations confirm that these people are in Azerbaijan. The number of such persons is 38. We have a second list, which we have compiled by the following logic: if there was any evidence, information that they are in captivity, we have included those names in that list, so that we can take measures for further confirmation.”
