Armenia says working on return of civilian from captivity in AzerbaijanNovember 30, 2018 - 15:10 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Chairman of the Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, acting Defense Minister David Tonoyan on Thursday, November 29 met the parents of Karen Ghazaryan, a resident of a Armenian border village who is being held captive in Azerbaijan. At the meeting, Ghazaryan's parents expressed concern over the possible deterioration of their son’s health, given the conditions of his detention in Azerbaijan and the ongoing trial. They reminded that after concluding compulsory military service in 2006, Ghazaryan no longer served in the ranks of the country's Armed Forces. Tonoyan said, meanwhile, that the Armenian side is intensively working to return the civilian to Armenia, cooperating with both with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Also, the acting Defense Minister expressed hope that the Azerbaijani authorities would not consider the humanitarian problem of returning Ghazaryan to his homeland in the context of the exchange of prisoners of war between the conflicting parties. The Ganja Court on Grave Crimes in Azerbaijan has began the trial of the hostage who is accused of “attempting to commit a terror attack.” The Armenian Defense Ministry has said in the past that Ghazaryan (b. 1984) doesn’t serve in the army and has never been drafted. The police revealed, in turn, that the man has health issues and has been registered in a medical facility since 2013. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |