Azerbaijan repatriates Manvel Saribekyan’s body and receives its citizen in return

Azerbaijan repatriated the body of Manvel Saribekyan today, while the Armenian side returned Eldar Taghiyev, an Azerbaijani citizen who had illegally crossed the border into Armenia.

Press Secretary of Armenia’s Defense Ministry Davit Karapetyan told Tert.am that the swap took place at midday on Thursday near Ghazakh-Kayanavan, the north-eastern part of Armenia.

“Armenia’s Defense Ministry implements the agreement reached by RA president on October 27 in Astrakhan [Russia] and has within that handed Azerbaijani citizen Eldar Taghiyev to the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side has returned Manvel Saribekyan’s body to the Armenian side,” said he.

Manvel Saribekyan is an Armenian shepherd who inadvertently crossed the border into Azerbaijan in search of his lost cattle a few months ago and was seized by Azerbaijani front troops.

Later he was reported by Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry and Military Prosecutor's Office to have committed suicide. Armenia dismisses the claim as untrue, adding he was rather killed.

After the reports about Manvel Saribekyan’s controversial death some Armenian analysts went so far as to say that Azerbaijan simply needed a corpse so that to have something to exchange with the body of Mubaris Ibrahimov – an Azerbaijani officer killed during a commando style sabotage on Karabakhi outpost.

Davit Karapetyan further expressed hope that Azerbaijan too will keep on its promise over the agreement reached in Astrakhan.

“We expect the same resoluteness from the Republic of Azerbaijan so that the Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan will be returned to Armenia,” said Mr Karapetyan.