Return of Armenian captives not on draft peace treaty with Baku: Yerevan

PanARMENIAN.Net - The return of Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan is not included in the draft peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku, Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan told journalists on Monday, September 9.

Nevertheless, he added, the matter is being raised everywhere, Spuntik Armenia reports.

He recalled that the issue was included in the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, where "Russia and Azerbaijan committed to resolving the matter of the return of prisoners." Simonyan then wondered "whether Russia and Azerbaijan are going to withdraw their signatures" from the document.

The politician was asked whether Armenia could put raise the return of prisoners as a condition for its participation in the COP-29 climate summit in Baku in November.

Simonyan called such discussions “premature”. He noted that it is not Azerbaijan that invites a country to the summit – it is a UN event, he said, and the organization decides which country to invite and which not.

According to the speaker of parliament, it is necessary to understand whether Armenia’s participation is appropriate, whether it is possible in this case to sign a peace treaty, resolve the issue of prisoners, etc. Yerevan would prefer that all these issues be resolved all at once, he added.

According to official data, there are 23 Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan, 17 of whom were captured as a result of Baku’s aggression in 2023. Among them are former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, former Deputy Commander of the Defense Army Davit Manukyan, former Commander of the Defense Army Levon Mnatsakanyan and former Foreign Minister David Babayan․