Family Members of Prisoners Have Received Information That a Large Number of Prisoners Are to Return: Naira Zohrabyan

"I assume that in exchange for the unblocking of communications, it is possible that prisoners of war will return in the coming days," said former MP Naira Zohrabyan in an interview with "Factinfo." According to her, family members of prisoners have recently been informed that an airplane departed for Baku yesterday and a large number of prisoners are expected to return by the end of the week.

"I told them that I can neither confirm nor deny this information, as I do not have such information. However, based on the facts that after the meeting in Sochi, Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Putin announced they were satisfied with the meeting, I can assume that it is possible for prisoners of war to return in the coming days in exchange for the unblocking of communications. This is merely a logical conclusion, nothing more," Zohrabyan said, adding that presumably, the soldiers captured on November 16 will be returned at this stage.

Zohrabyan clarified that currently, there are 30 prisoners of war in Syunik since the incident in November, including 24 individuals who were considered missing. Before the Sochi meeting, Azerbaijan returned two prisoners, one from Vanadzor who was wounded in the knee and another who was a civilian with certain health issues and had gotten lost in the area.

"At this moment, we have 30 prisoners of war who were captured on November 16, in addition to those from the 44-day war, whose number is not 40 as Azerbaijan claims. Based on our information and the correlation of various facts, their number is much higher, and no one can say what has happened to our remaining soldiers or their condition," she said.

According to Naira Zohrabyan, it is unprecedented that Azerbaijan refuses to clarify information about prisoners. "I was told that in the 40-year history of the European Court and the Committee of Ministers, there has never been a case where the European Court, having vast evidence at hand, is unable to resolve this issue. The Armenian side has also presented undeniable evidence related to the capture and torture of our men, all of which has been acknowledged by the court. However, the Azerbaijani side persistently refuses to provide any information regarding these individuals," she remarked.

Zohrabyan believes that Azerbaijan still has expectations from Armenia, which is why they are not clarifying information about the prisoners.