Swap of Armenian, Azerbaijani captives ‘is Artsakh's sovereign right’, defense minister says
Armenia’s minister of defense does not rule out the possibility of the exchange of two Armenian captives in Azerbaijan - Karen Ghazaryan and Araik Ghazaryan - with two imprisoned Azerbaijani convicts in Artsakh – Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev.
“I do not rule it out, but this is an issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s sovereign decision,” ARMENPRESS quotes him as telling reporters.
He made the remark when asked to comment upon a recent proposal by an Azerbaijani commission dealing with prisoners of war (POWs).
Tonoyan said representatives of the ICRC mission in Armenia communicated the message to him at recent negotiations.
“There are certain matters of concern, which I cannot reveal for now. There is information which requires additional clarification. We will respond when we will receive this clarified information from Azerbaijan,” the he added.
“I am not viewing the issue from the perspective of an exchange, as this isn’t a correct approach at least from the perspective of a defense minister. I am focused on the return of my citizens to Armenia.”
Askerov and Guliyev are serving a life sentence and 22 years term respectively in Artsakh for espionage, kidnapping and murder. The two men illegally crossed into Artsakh in an attempted sabotage and murdered a minor.
Karen Ghazaryan is a mentally impaired Armenian civilian from the village of Berdavan (Tavush region), who was detained in Azerbaijan after accidentally crossing into the country on July 15, 2018.
The other man, Arayik Ghazaryan [no relation], is an Artsakh Defense Army serviceman wgo crossed the Azerbaijani border August 12, 2019 in circumstances yet to be clarified. He was earlier reported missing.
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