‘Hayk was not injured at the time of his capture’: The enemy has not yet confirmed that the Armenian prisoner of war is being held in Azerbaijan

Almost a year after the 44-day war in Artsakh, the fate of numerous soldiers and volunteers remains unknown. Azerbaijan continues to forcibly hold captured Armenian soldiers and civilians, over 11 months after the war, labeling some as ‘terrorists’ and sentencing them under the most severe clauses of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code.

Moreover, there are prisoners of war in Azerbaijan about whom no information is provided, and their relatives learned from videos released by the enemy that they are being held there.

There is still no official information on Hayk Tovmasyan, who was captured near Jabrayil, but his relatives found out from a video published by the enemy that he had been taken prisoner. The footage shows Hayk being blindfolded and taken away, yet Azerbaijan has not confirmed to this day that the young man is in their custody.

In recent months, thousands of Hayk's supporters have approached various organizations, the Red Cross, the government, and the Ministry of Defense, urging them to take action to exert pressure on Azerbaijan in order to reveal the truth, that is, to confirm that Hayk is in their custody.

In an interview with 168.am, one of Hayk Tovmasyan’s relatives, who requested not to disclose their name for now, stated that Hayk served in Martuni until October 5, after which he was taken to Jabrayil, where he and other soldiers held their positions until the evening of October 8.

“From October 5, the enemy tried to capture the positions, but could not manage; the boys held their ground, and on October 8, when the enemy was redeploying their forces for a new attack, our boys were ordered to retreat. When retreating, that responsibility falls onto the shoulders of the kids, and there are no officers there to guide them. Hayk and his friend, who were in the platoon, told about 70 boys to get in the trucks, saying they would hold their position. Both of them were ‘pekayists’. Just as they entered the Boi, the platoon boys headed towards the trucks and moved on. The next day they saw that neither Hayk nor his friend Bghdon was there. Bghdon managed to escape from the direction of Hadrut days later, but Hayk did not make it out. Hayk was positioned on the right flank, while the enemy attacked from that flank. Bghdon was on the left flank, which was free. At the end of the retreat, he managed to get out, but Hayk was left and reached the command observation point, after which they surrounded him. In early December, I went to Hayk's military unit, and the soldiers told me that Hayk had run towards the command observation point. When I went to the same military unit a second time, the boys indicated to me that Hayk had run toward the command point and had stayed there. On December 8, eight bodies were taken from Hayk's fighting position, all of them being soldiers from Askeran. They were identified by their documents, and no more bodies were removed from there,” said Hayk’s relative.

According to him, a video surfaced in mid-January showing the enemy filming Hayk with his eyes closed, hands tied, and without shoes. “Hayk was not injured at the time of his capture. Apparently, the enemy released that footage at the end of November, but we did not pay attention to it until we recognized Hayk. Then we began to approach various organizations, but to this day, there has been no result. I believe that the Armenian side is not working at all. It is now a year after the war, and if the Armenian side had acted and utilized its available resources, demanding the return of its captives as a state, there would perhaps have been some progress. After the war, those prisoners who said ‘Karabakh is Azerbaijan, Karabakh is ours’ were separated and sent back, 45 individuals, whereas the boys who fought and were captured continue to be held by the enemy, who claims they have no knowledge of them. The Red Cross and the government say that they are working on it; we have gone there so many times we have become residents of those organizations, but it’s unclear what they are doing,” he emphasized.

He also mentioned that he had met with Armenian prisoners of war who had returned from Azerbaijan, and they stated that they had been held in separate locations and, therefore, had been unable to see one another, though a few had heard names, and that was all.

“We don’t know where or to whom to turn to solve this problem. Azerbaijan must be pressured, but these people are not utilizing any leverage to exert that pressure. The Armenian side could have captured the enemy soldiers that intruded into its territory and exchanged them for our prisoners of war. If our government wanted to do something, it would. Right now, Azerbaijan holds our prisoners of war because it has unanswered questions, and through this, it will exert pressure on the Armenian side and achieve many things, such as creating a ‘corridor’, taking villages from Tavush, and capturing Tigranashen; the enemy is solving many issues through this,” he concluded.