Pashinyan expects "concrete results" in issue of Armenian POWs

PanARMENIAN.Net - Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, April 29 that the international community's activity sparks optimism for "concrete results" in the issue of the return of the Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan noted that Azerbaijan fails to comply with its commitment to release the prisoners of war, which has now become an international issue. He cited a statement from the European Union which said Azerbaijan needs to return all the captives, regardless of the circumstances of their detention.

The acting PM also stressed the importance of processes currently underway in the European Court of Human Rights.

"We have to be united, patient and persistent, this issue must definitely be resolved positively," Pashinyan added.

Several dozen Armenian POWs have returned from Azerbaijan so far, although Armenian officials say many more people were being held in Baku. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claims, however, that persons being kept in Baku are not prisoners of war but “terrorists and saboteurs”. Officials and human rights advocates from the Armenian side, however, maintain Azerbaijan is still holding hundreds of people hostage, pledging to submit evidence proving the capture of said persons to international agencies and courts.