Azeri-captured Armenian soldier transferred to third country

Azeri-captured Armenian soldier transferred to third country

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Azeri-captured Armenian soldier Hakob Injighulyan has been transferred to a third country, his brother, Harutyun Injighulyan, told Panorama.am.

According to the captives’s brother, the information was provided by the Armenian Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“It’s not yet clear what country Hakob was transferred to,” he said, adding that Injighulyan has not contacted his family so far.

Hakob Injighulyan, an Armenian citizen and an army conscript, failed to find his bearings on the ground and crossed into the Azeri-controlled territory on the night of August 8, 2013.

Azeri media outlets have since been spreading information suggesting the captive is unwilling to return to Armenia.

In mid-October, media was circulating reports suggesting the captive was to be moved to a third country from Azerbaijan. The information, however, hadn’t been confirmed at the Yerevan Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Injighulyan never mentioned his unwillingness to return to Armenia in a meeting with ICRC representatives, with Azerbaijani Prisoners of War Commission Secretary noting he sees no problem with the captive's return. Nor did he express intention to leave for a third country, reports said.

Armenia has repeatedly slammed the “interviews” with Injighulyan as forced by Baku and urged the ICRC to take every effort to help the captive’s return, with no persecution to be initiated against him in the absence of crime in the act.

In June, Injighulyan wrote letters to his family members

“In a new letter, like in his previous ones, he wrote that he’s well and has no problems,” Injighulyan’s brother, Harut, told Panorama.am.

However, several lines were crossed out in Injighulyan’s letters to his mother and brother. In Harut Injighulyan’s words, representatives of the ICRC Baku Office have crossed out those lines explaining that Hakob wrote things that his parents should not know.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

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