Azerbaijani Criminal from Karvachar Confesses: The State Sent Us

One of the Azerbaijani criminals who infiltrated the Karvachar region of Artsakh in 2014, Shahbaz Guliyev, revealed during a live broadcast on Azerbaijani Xural TV that they were sent to Karvachar on orders from former Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov, and that the Ministry of Defense was aware of it beforehand, as reported by Sputnik Armenia.

On July 9, 2014, the Armenian Ministry of Defense reported the infiltration of Azerbaijani saboteurs into the Karvachar area. After several days of search operations, one Azerbaijani armed infiltrator was killed, while two others, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilham Askerov, were arrested.

“I was called and told, ‘You are needed by the state.’ In reality, they wanted to send me alone, but I insisted that Askerov knows the area well, and he should come too. At that time, Dilham was detained and in the Shamakhi police station. He was released from prison and brought,” Guliyev recounted.

Guliyev emphasized that they went to Karvachar directly from Hasanov's office, where they were provided with weapons and grenades and were given a clear path. Moreover, according to Guliyev, they had regularly carried out sabotage infiltrations into areas controlled by Armenians with the knowledge of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense since 1992. He stated that after returning to Baku, Hasanov only met with Askerov and did not see him.

Independently of Guliyev, in recent days, Askerov’s son, Kyurdoglu Askerov, gave an interview to Azerbaijani Publika.az, confirming that the criminals had infiltrated Artsakh multiple times: in 2005, 2007, and 2009-2010. Askerov particularly highlighted that in 2010, when Azerbaijani serviceman Mubariz Ibrahimov entered Armenian positions and was killed on the spot, while his body remained in an Armenian trench, his father organized another sabotage operation to exchange it for the capture of Armenian servicemen.

When the Armenian side captured the Azerbaijani criminals in 2014, various videos from Karvachar, especially of a military exercise, were discovered among them. Guliyev told that they regularly sent similar footage to the Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister. “The video materials I sent to Hasanov were taken by the Armenians on the day I was captured and placed on my table in Stepanakert,” Guliyev said.

It turns out that after returning to Baku, Guliyev and Askerov started blaming each other for their capture. Guliyev explained that they were caught, and their comrade was killed because of Askerov, as the infiltration into the city of Karvachar had not been pre-planned, but the latter insisted on entering. Upon returning to Baku, Dilham Askerov also claimed that Guliyev was a “Armenian spy who sold him out.”

Overall, both criminals claimed that upon their return to Baku, the state paid them no attention. Askerov’s son said that his father does not even receive a pension, while Guliyev complained of receiving a mere 180 manats (about 48,000 AMD) as a pension. During the interview, Guliyev declared his intent to reveal more details, and afterward, that he would take his own life.

It should be noted that when the Armenian side captured the Azerbaijani criminals, Azerbaijan officially declared that these individuals were “peaceful civilians who had come to visit the graves of their ancestors.” During their presence in the Armenian-controlled area, the Azerbaijanis managed to abduct and kill 17-year-old resident of Karvachar, Smbat Tsakanian, murdered Major Sargis Abrahamyan on the Vardenis-Martakert highway, and severely wounded his companion, Karine Davtyan, born in 1977.

After their capture, Askerov was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Guliyev was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The Azerbaijani side did everything to return the captured individuals, even organizing a small war in August 2014 for this purpose, but the Armenian side insisted that they were not prisoners of war but criminals and should serve their sentences. Nevertheless, in December 2020, the criminals were extradited to Baku.