I Have Honor faction MP Tigran Abrahamyan, speaking at a parliamentary briefing, addressed the issue of Armenian captives unlawfully convicted in Baku, referring to recent statements by the Azerbaijani president, Panorama.am reports.
“Aliyev’s statements regarding the Armenian captives unlawfully sentenced in Baku, made after his meeting with the U.S. vice president, raised far more questions,” he said.
According to the MP, Aliyev stated that the issue of captives had been discussed with the U.S. vice president, that the Azerbaijani side had presented its position, and that the matter was thus concluded. In Abrahamyan’s view, this circumstance may point to two possible scenarios.
“Either the issue was not the subject of serious discussions and the U.S. vice president raised it merely in a formal manner, taking into account public sentiment in Armenia; or there is or was a certain agreement between officials to carefully bypass the issue,” the MP said.
He also stressed that Aliyev’s statements were somewhat surprising, as the Azerbaijani leader effectively indicated that the matter had not been a priority topic of discussion.
“In a certain sense, Aliyev’s remarks were surprising, because he essentially demonstrated that the issue had not been a primary subject of discussion. It is hardly conceivable to simply bypass or close such a topic in talks with a high-ranking U.S. official,” he added.
Abrahamyan expressed the view that this once again confirms that the issue of captives has not been treated as a priority on the agenda of Armenia’s authorities and has not been regarded as an urgent topic in the Armenia–Azerbaijan negotiation process, resulting in a lack of focus.
“In essence, this shows that Azerbaijan brings forward issues that are important to it and obtains solutions, while matters of importance to Armenia are not subject to substantive discussion,” the lawmaker said.
Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, answering questions from France 24 in Munich, rejected the possibility of granting a pardon to the leaders of Artsakh.
He confirmed that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance had raised the issue of Armenian captives during his visit to Baku, adding that he had outlined Baku’s position on the matter and that the discussion ended there.
