Bellamy: Armenian prisoners of war must be released from Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian prisoners of war still in Azerbaijan's custody must be released without delay, and Europe must do everything in its power to achieve this, Member of the European Parliament François-Xavier Bellamy said in his speech on Thursday, May 20.

"Azerbaijan is keeping these soldiers hostage as "terrorists". The only terrorists in this story are the jihadist mercenaries that [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan funded and brought in from Syria to attack Karabakh," Bellamy said.

"Even today, hundreds of families in Armenia live in the absolute anguish of not knowing whether their sons are dead or among the prisoners or war. Armenia has brought before the ECHR the cases of 19 POWs executed in detention."

The MEP also spoke of Azerbaijan's encroachment on Armenia, maintaining that the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev can't be trusted when he speaks about peace and respect."

So far, more than 70 Armenian POWs have returned home. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claims that persons still 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.