Our Prisoners Number is Not 188. The Number of Prisoners Varies, but I Will Not Announce That Number Now, Minister

There are no Azerbaijani prisoners of war in Armenia. Armenia has fulfilled its humanitarian obligations. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ara Aivazyan during an extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly’s Committee on European Integration, in response to the question from committee member Naira Zohrabyan.

Zohrabyan inquired whether there are any Azerbaijani prisoners in Armenia, and if not, what can be done to constructively engage Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations and return our 188 prisoners.

“The number of our prisoners that you mentioned, I want to clarify that our number of prisoners is not 188. That number was cited by the European Court of Human Rights, and the court has requested information regarding that many individuals. Our number of prisoners is different, but I will not announce that number now,” Aivazyan said.

The minister noted that as a result of international pressure, Azerbaijan has understood that the return of prisoners will be a very important step in reshaping and reaffirming the atmosphere of trust.

It is noteworthy that earlier, the European Court of Human Rights announced that it had received applications for interim measures regarding 249 Armenians allegedly captured by Azerbaijan.

According to information provided by the Armenian government, 58 of these individuals were returned during December 2020 and February 2021, while 7 individuals have been confirmed deceased. Out of the 249 Armenians, 72 are still in Azerbaijan, whose captivity and detention have been confirmed by the Azerbaijani government.

As for the remaining 112 individuals, the Azerbaijani government claims that they have not been able to identify these individuals among those detained.

It is also added that since the establishment of a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, 70 Armenian prisoners have been returned. However, no exact figure is provided on how many prisoners are still in Baku. According to human rights defenders, their number may reach 300.

Conversely, the Azerbaijani side insists that it has returned all prisoners, asserting that the ones remaining are "terrorists."