Artsakh rules out exchange of Azeri saboteurs for pilots’ bodies: official

Artsakh rules out exchange of Azeri saboteurs for pilots’ bodies: official

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.

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