Problem 62 is coming to a logical end

Baku/11.05.21/Turan: On May 4, Azerbaijan returned three servicemen to Armenia. The persons returned to Armenia were disarmed and detained in Karabakh after the agreement signed on November 10 last year.

It was noted that the investigation did not confirm their participation in the operations that resulted in the death and injury of Azerbaijani soldiers.

On January 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan released information about the arrest and handing over to the investigation of the Armenian terrorist and sabotage group of 62 people, purposefully deployed by Armenia in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.

However, some international organizations consider these individuals" prisoners of war " and call on official Baku to return them to Armenia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is currently on a visit to Azerbaijan, said at a press conference during his visit to Armenia on May 6 that the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed with officials.

"We are continuing our efforts to bring all detainees home, clear mines, and preserve cultural and religious heritage," he said.

Will these people be returned to Armenia?

On May 10, President Ilham Aliyev said at a reception with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Azerbaijan shows great interest in issues related to humanitarian problems.

"I must say that after the end of hostilities we gave  all the prisoners of war that we had at the end of the war," he said.

Yesterday, General Prosecutor Kamran Aliyev told reporters that there are specific criminal cases and charges against each of the Armenian terrorists who fought in Karabakh.

"The criminal case against one of them - a citizen of Lebanon-has been sent to the Baku Military Court," the General Prosecutor said.

Member of the Milli Majlis Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Elman Nasirov told Turan that the position of Azerbaijan is based on international law.

"In international law, there is a definition of a prisoner of war, a terrorist and a saboteur. Each of them has a legally valid name. If we consider that those who attacked the Azerbaijani military and the civilian population acted so after the joint statement signed by the political leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on November 10, 2020, they are no longer considered military. They are considered terrorists and saboteurs, " he said.

The parliamentarian noted that Armenia wants to present these 62 detainees to the international community as prisoners of war.

"Azerbaijan allegedly does not want to return prisoners of war and does not respect international law. This is a complete lie. It is under international law that these individuals were clearly terrorists and saboteurs. Azerbaijan has released 3 people without confirming that they committed any criminal acts against the civilian population and our militarians, " Nasirov said.

The committee member stressed that Armenia complains about Russia.

"At the same time, the Armenian side complains about its patrons in the international arena. The leadership of the French Senate is coming to Armenia, and one of the phrases of his statement is related to the release of the Armenian" prisoners of war", he said.

According to Nasirov, this demonstrates an approach with double standards.

"In such a situation there are also demands on the part of Azerbaijan. So many raise the issue of "prisoners of war", then why don't they say anything about the fact that the map of the mined territories was not handed over to Azerbaijan, which caused the death of more than 100 civilians? Why don't they say a word about the fact that there is no information about the fate of 4 thousand of our citizens captivated by Armenia during the First Karabakh War? What is going on? What kind of double standards is this?", he asks.

Political analyst Arastun Orujlu told Turan that the statements and steps taken by the Azerbaijani authorities in the post-Karabakh conflict period are diametrically opposed to each other.

"The same situation is with these saboteurs. On the part of the law enforcement agencies it was stated that after the trilateral statement of November 10 the Armenian fighters detained in the territory of Azerbaijan do not get the status of prisoners of war, they will be trialed as saboteurs. But now we see a completely different picture," he said.

The expert noted that this picture began with Maral Nazarian, who is a citizen of Lebanon and is said to be a sniper.

"At the request of the Lebanese government, Azerbaijan released him, and now it has released these three people," he said.

According to Orujlu, in this way they will gradually free everyone.

"The President of the International Judo Federation thanked Ilham Aliyev for the last three released people. And Ilham Aliyev will hand over all these terrorists in order to hear gratitude from someone."

The political scientist stressed that two actions can be seen here. Populist statements aimed at the internal audience of Azerbaijan, and steps taken at the request of the external audience. And specifically-the extradition of these saboteurs.

The expert believes that Azerbaijan will unilaterally compromise on many issues.

"First of all, this concerns saboteurs. And after that, we can witness other concessions, " Orujlu said.—0—