Don't Exploit the Situation: Makunts on Failure to Reach Agreement on Prisoners in Moscow

The issue of prisoners is a priority for Armenia, and government agencies are working to facilitate their return. This was stated by Lilit Makunts, the leader of the My Step faction in the National Assembly, during a conversation with reporters.

Responding to a question about why the issue of prisoners was not resolved during the trilateral meeting of the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan in Moscow, Makunts advised against exploiting the matter.

It should be noted that earlier, Siiranush Sahakyan, the representative of Armenian prisoners' interests at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), stated that the confirmed number of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan is 120. It is known that criminal cases have been initiated against 62 servicemen who found themselves in a prisoner status in Azerbaijan under terrorism charges.

It was previously announced that the return of prisoners would be carried out on a principle of 'everyone for everyone'. Based on this rationale, on December 14, the Armenian side first handed over criminals Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilham Askerov to Azerbaijan, who had been imprisoned since 2014 for murder, espionage, illegal crossing of the state border, carrying military munitions, and abduction.

In July 2014, three armed Azerbaijanis in civilian clothes were discovered, two of whom, Guliyev and Askerov, were arrested, while one was killed. The body of the slain Azerbaijani was handed over to Azerbaijan by the Armenian side. The Azerbaijanis had killed 17-year-old Smbat Tsakanian, and 42-year-old Major Sargis Abrahamyan, and had injured 37-year-old Karine Davtyan.