Last update: February 10, 2025 13:49

Newsroom logo

Azerbaijan Says Detained Karabakh Separatists Not Prisoners of War

By Nargiz Mammadli October 15, 2024

None

Self-proclaimed "president" of the dissolved armed separatist regime Arayik Harutyunyan was detained by Azerbaijan's State Security Service on October 5, 2023 / Dtx.Gov.Az

The Azerbaijani government refuted the claims regarding Armenian-origin prisoners of war, after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently stated that Baku has refused to repatriate them.

Last week, Pashinyan said at the “Crossroads of Peace" forum that Azerbaijan is holding Armenian prisoners since the 2020 war in the Karabakh (Garabagh) region. He insisted that Article 8 of the trilateral statement signed in 2020 obligates Baku to return all prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees.

However, the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan responded that all Armenian-origin prisoners of war have been returned since the end of the conflict in 2020. Those under arrest in Baku today are not recognized under the same status.

“Adhering to the principle of humanism, Azerbaijan has so far handed over all prisoners of war to the Armenian side. Azerbaijan does not have any obligation to release war criminals and representatives of the separatist junta regime of Armenian origin,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to the members of the self-proclaimed armed separatist regime.

The special services of Azerbaijan detained key figures of the armed separatist regime shortly after the anti-terrorist operation in the country's Karabakh region in September 2023. The one-day anti-terror operation from September 19 to 20 led to the surrender and disarmament of the separatists.

Ruben Vardanyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan, David Babayan, Davit Manukyan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, David Ishkhanyan, and others, who have served in various self-designed posts, including the so-called “president, state minister, presidential adviser, army commander”, have been accused of criminal activities against peace and humanity, war crimes, terrorism, terrorist financing, murder, creating illegal armed associations, etc.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has completed the preliminary investigation into these cases. The cases will be submitted to the court.

Last week, based on the court's decision, the detention period of the separatists was extended.

Arayik Harutyunyan served as the so-called "president" of the illegal armed separatist regime in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region from May 21, 2020, until he resigned on September 1, 2023. Prior to this, he held the position of so-called “prime minister” twice before the role was renamed "state minister" in 2017. Harutyunyan also led the separatists' Azad Hayrenik (Free Fatherland) party in the Karabakh region and fought against Azerbaijan during the First Karabakh War in 1992.

His arrest stems from charges of separatism and terrorism in Azerbaijan, including ordering missile strikes on civilians during the 44-day war in 2020. On October 4, 2020, he directed a rocket attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second-largest city, located 100 kilometers from the conflict zone. The attack killed one civilian and injured 30 others.

Harutyunyan and the separatists, supported by Yerevan, claimed the strike targeted military installations and the airport, but Azerbaijan provided evidence showing there were no military sites in the city. Following the assault, Harutyunyan threatened further missile attacks if Baku did not cease its counteroffensive. Ganja faced repeated rocket strikes throughout the 2020 war. Following the first incident on October 4, the Armenian military targeted Azerbaijan's second-largest city on October 5, 8, 10, and 17. The civilian death toll in the wake of the assaults stood at 32, while at least 125 others were wounded.

Ruben Vardanyan, who served as the so-called "state minister" of the illegal separatist regime in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region, was apprehended at the Lachin border checkpoint while attempting to flee Azerbaijan and enter Armenia in September last year.

Vardanyan, a Russian oligarch of Armenian descent, made headlines when he unexpectedly "renounced" his Russian citizenship in September 2022, on the second anniversary of the 44-day Armenia-Azerbaijan war. He had actively pushed for a false “status” to be granted to Armenian residents in the Karabakh region and advocated for the illegal separatist regime to be recognized as an “independent country,” presenting himself as a key representative for this cause.