Unfortunately, the Difficult Situation Regarding Prisoners of War Continues: Naira Zohrabyan

Member of the National Assembly from the Prosperous Armenia faction, Naira Zohrabyan, speaking about the government’s shortcomings regarding prisoners of war and missing persons in an interview with Tert.am, said: "Every day, parents of missing servicemen knock on all possible and impossible doors. Currently, Russian peacekeepers have received 3,500 applications from Armenian mothers searching for their missing sons; can you imagine what a number this is? I meet parents who are at their wits' end trying to find their children.

"Parents are trying to believe various pieces of information that their sons, especially in the southern regions of Artsakh, have managed to survive and cross into Iran. Since I have been approached frequently regarding such issues, I called our ambassador in Iran, although I knew the answer would be negative because I was confident that if there had been at least one case, the Iranian side would have informed us. However, I still tried to verify that the information being circulated was false," she said.

Zohrabyan mentioned that there have even been instances where the parents of the missing have traveled to Tabriz on their own, met with the Armenian bishop there, and tried to ascertain whether the information they received was correct. "The parents do not remain silent, they call every day; I speak with them, some of their sons are prisoners of war, and some are missing. I’m trying to gather all their information and send it to all possible organizations, mainly my counterparts in Russia, so they can influence their partners in Azerbaijan to release the prisoners of war," added Zohrabyan.

Regarding the Armenian authorities, Zohrabyan noted that as far as she knows, a commission has been established to address the issue of prisoners of war, but she does not know who is doing what. "I don’t know the effectiveness of their work, but if the work were effective, the question of the return of prisoners of war wouldn’t solely depend on Aliyev and his group’s goodwill; when he wants, he will return them, and when he doesn’t want to, he won’t. Unfortunately, the difficult situation regarding prisoners of war continues," she stated.

The parliamentarian pointed out that the European Court has contacted the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, stating that Azerbaijan is refusing to provide clear information about the number of Armenian prisoners of war held in their possession and their health status. "I believe that the main topic of my and my colleagues' report during the April session, which will start on April 19, will be the issue of Armenian prisoners of war."

Zohrabyan noted that when parents meet with representatives of the government, they only hear promises or that they need to wait. "Avinyan said on air that this matter needs calm and tranquility and that they are working diligently in that direction; we have not seen that work up to this point. Any prisoner of war that has been returned has been exclusively by Azerbaijan, in my opinion, under the pressure of Russia. Today, the only country that can exert real influence on Azerbaijan regarding the return of prisoners of war is Russia."

According to Zohrabyan, if Nikol Pashinyan, during meetings with Aliyev, had clearly set the agenda that all prisoners of war must be returned immediately before discussing the issue of giving land from Syunik or building a corridor, "if he had stated that no discussions about any corridor could take place until the last prisoner is returned, I am sure Aliyev would have agreed because securing that corridor is vitally important for Azerbaijan and Turkey. Unfortunately, this has not been done by Pashinyan. But we continue to work on a daily basis."