Pashinyan urges against giving in to Azerbaijan's manipulations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has urged the public against giving in to any kind of manipulation, including those coming from Azerbaijan, about an alleged agreement to provide a "corridor" through Armenia to Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan noted that the trilateral statement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia makes no mention of the southern Armenian town of Meghri, the province of Syunik (which was previously known as Zangezur), or the term "corridor".

"In general, we are in favor of unblocking transport communications in the region, because it is as much a necessary step for Azerbaijan as it is for us," the acting PM told supporters in town of Kapan, Syunik province, Armenpress reports.

Pashinyan also noted that Armenia is committed to obligations it assumed by signing the trilateral statement, unlike Azerbaijan, which has not returned all the Armenian captives.

Azerbaijan is refusing to return all Armenian prisoners of war, in violation of the statement on the cessation of hostilities signed by the parties in November 2020. The Armenian side has information about some 200 Armenians still in Azerbaijan’s captivity, but Azeri President Ilham Aliyev claims that persons being kept in Baku are not PoWs, but “terrorists and saboteurs”. At least 19 of the hundreds of Armenian captives have been tortured and killed, according to their lawyers. In addition, six Armenian troops were captured on Armenian soil in late May.