Aliyev Will Continue to Strategically Hold Our Prisoners for Advantageous Negotiations, Says Zohrabyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan must negotiate with his so-called civilized partner Ilham Aliyev, refuse to provide any communication through Syunik to Azerbaijan until the last soldier and civilian captive returns to Armenia. This is the only guarantee that the captives in Azerbaijan will not be tortured or killed. This was stated by NA Prosperous Armenia faction MP Naira Zohrabyan in an interview with Tert.am, commenting on the torture and killing of 19 individuals held captive in Azerbaijan.

“If we continue to fulfill all their commands, address all agenda items, and serve the Turkish-Azerbaijani ‘Great Turan’ project by providing pieces of Armenia, naturally, Aliyev will continue to strategically hold our prisoners for his advantageous political and territorial negotiations,” said the MP.

She emphasized that the return of Armenian prisoners without any preconditions should have been the primary point registered in the capitulatory document of November 10, 2020, after which the other points should have followed.

“During the visit to Russia on January 11, Pashinyan should not have signed any documents considering that the unblocking of communications in Syunik is a major issue for Azerbaijan and Turkey. I am more than confident that if he had decisively presented the issue of the return of prisoners there, and only then signed a document regarding the unblocking, considering the significance of this communication issue for Azerbaijan, Aliyev and Erdogan would have agreed to return the captives,” said Zohrabyan.

She also highlighted that prior to participating in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe session in Strasbourg, she had no optimism that Armenia would succeed in resolving the issue of captives. However, her personal meetings there, including with the German presidency and several meetings within the EU, instilled some hope that the European community, which, according to the MP, was previously in a state of paralysis and the organizations that continuously hesitated concerning the Artsakh issue and kept referencing the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group, would now use their leverage against Azerbaijan, including in the form of sanctions.

“Today I have sent the names of the 19 tortured and killed Armenian servicemen and civilians to the political groups and presidency of the EU, and to all political groups and the president of the PACE. The fact is that there is a threat to the lives of the captives; they are being killed. This has been a very important signal for the international community. I do not want to have excessive optimism, but with cautious optimism, I want to say that I believe there will be a certain number of prisoner returns in the upcoming month and a half,” she said.

Naira Zohrabyan recalled that some time ago she was approached by the parents of soldiers who reported receiving calls from Iranian numbers and expressed doubts that their sons crossed into Iran from the southern part of Artsakh during the war and are now there. Regarding this, the MP has spoken with the Armenian ambassador in Iran, but the information has not yet been confirmed.

“Yesterday, I also officially contacted the Iranian Foreign Minister, presented the situation, and we plan to organize a video call with some representatives of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, during which the parents of the soldiers will present the information they have,” said Zohrabyan.