OSCE welcomes release of detainees by Armenia, Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Miroslav Lajčák has welcomed the release of prisoners by Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday, June 28.

Also Friday, Lajčák met the Minsk Group co-chairs Igor Popov of Russia and Andrew Schofer of the United States, acting also on behalf of Minsk Group co-chair Stéphane Visconti of France, and the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The chairperson was briefed on the results of the co-chairs’ recent consultations, including the meetings between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, held in Moscow on April 15 and Washington, D.C. on June 20. The co-chairs also informed the Slovak Chair of progress on humanitarian issues, including the exchange of prisoners between Armenia and Azerbaijan earlier in the day.

Lajčák expressed his full support for the Minsk process and the work of the co-chairs, and the efforts by the sides to reduce tensions and create an atmosphere conducive to peace and substantive progress in negotiations.

Commenting on the prisoner exchange, the Chairperson-in-Office said “We welcome this humanitarian gesture, which shows how dialogue can bring about positive results for the people affected by conflict.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated the exchange of prisoners between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The countries each released one prisoner of the other country on the border near the Armenian town of Ijevan, Tavush province.

The Azerbaijani citizen named Elvin Arif Oglu Ibrahimov was arrested on March 16, 2019, while the Armenian citizen, Zaven Karapetyan, was captured on June 20, 2017.