Artsakh rules out exchange of Azeri saboteurs for pilots’ bodies: officialNovember 21, 2014 - 17:00 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Stepanakert has no intention to exchange the Azerbaijani saboteurs for the bodies of pilots of Nagorno Karabakh’s helicopter downed by Azeri armed forces during a training flight on Nov 12. Artsakh President’s spokesman David Babayan has ruled out such a possibility, according to RFE/RL. Commenting on the developments, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said the issue should be resolved by the NKR authorities. “These saboteurs have committed a crime. They are standing trial and must be punished. Our diplomatic efforts resulted in a statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, who urged Azerbaijan to stop fire and allow access to the remains,” he said. Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Askerov are undergoing trial in Stepanakert. The two Azeris were caught making an incursion into Armenian territory (Karvachar) in summer 2014. The third one, Hasan Hasanov, was killed, and his body was handed over to Baku earlier in October. The actions of the group left an underage resident of Karvachar and an Armenian serviceman killed, as well as one woman wounded. A video containing footage of interrogation of Baku-captured Armenian serviceman Hakob Injighulyan was found in Askerov's video camera, the saboteur unable to explain how the footage was obtained. Earlier, Baku offered to exchange the saboteurs for then-captive Injighulyan and Karen Petrosyan, a villager, who died in captivity. Meanwhile, Artsakh defense army reported that the number of ceasefire violations along the line of contact has increased, with 190 violations registered on the night of Nov 21. 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. Top stories The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |