ISCR representatives visit Armenians held captive in Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - The representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have visited Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan, the Public TV cited Zara Amatuni from ICRC's Yerevan office as saying on Tuesday, September 22.

ICRC representatives have also visited officer Gurgen Alaverdyan, who went missing after leaving his post to inspect the checkpoint during bad weather on August 22, according to Defense Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan. The Azerbaijani side reported that the Armenian officer was taken prisoner after a failed sabotage, but Stepanyan has refuted the claims as disinformation.

Besides, Alaverdyan, civilians Karen Ghazaryan and Narek Sardaryan, as well as servicemen Arayik Ghazaryan and Arsen Baghdasaryan are currently held in Azerbaijan.

According to Amatuni, the ICRC employees have helped the captives contact their families.

Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan said on September 17 that Azerbaijan's obstructing of a visit by the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the Armenian nationals is a gross violation of Baku's commitments to the international humanitarian law.