Armenia states transfer of the last prisoner of war to Azerbaijan

Through the mediation of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, Armenia has passed over to the third party the last Azerbaijani prisoner of was (POW) - Roman Novruz oglu Guseinov. According to the Armenian party, eight citizens of Armenia are still in Azeri captivity.

The transfer of the prisoner took place on September 26.

Let us remind you that according to the Armenian party, Junior Sergeant of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces Roman Novruz oglu Guseinov (or Khuseinov) in the evening on August 27, 2010, crossed the contact line and was captured by the Karabakh Army soldiers. Earlier, it was reported that his hazing in the Azerbaijani unit where he served was the reason of his act. However, according to his father, the junior sergeant was captured by Karabakh soldiers, when he lost his way while returning to his unit.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 17, at the contact line of the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, an exchange of the POWs, who had been detained by both parties in conflict, took place. The exchange occurred through mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Azerbaijani party received the soldier Anar Gadjiev, the Armenian party - the citizen of Armenia Arthur Badalyan.

After the exchange, the press-service of the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) disseminated the information that Armenia still kept one Azerbaijani POW, who refuse to return home. According to the press secretary of the MoD David Karapetyan, "the Armenian party is ready to return Guseinov to Azerbaijan, as soon as he is psychologically ready for it."

The conscript, who a year ago passed to the Armenian side, was thinking over his further steps for a long time, and has recently decided not to return to Azerbaijan, but seek political asylum in some other country, the "Echo of the Caucasus" reports.

Armen Kaprielyan, the head of the working group of the State Commission on POWs, Hostages and Missing Persons at the Government of Armenia, has noted that the country, which received the Azerbaijani POW, is not known to Armenian and Azerbaijan, just for his own safety.

Meanwhile, Mr Kaprielyan has added that the issue of the POW's transfer was decided not by the parties in conflict, but by international organizations.

"We know nothing about where our son is. His last letter arrived last month. He wrote that all was well, and soon everything will be fine. We were not told anything about his desire to go to some third country. We're going to appeal to the State Commission on POWs, Hostages and Missing Persons, as we want to return Roman home," the APA quotes Natavan Guseinova, the mother of Junior Sergeant of the Azerbaijani Army Roman Guseinov.

"The Azerbaijani State Commission on POWs, Hostages and Missing Persons was not officially informed that the Azeri POW Roman Novruz oglu Guseinov was transferred to a third country by the Armenian party," said Shakhin Sailov, Secretary of the State Commission.

However, Ilakha Guseinova, the head for PR of the representative office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan, has confirmed the transfer by the Armenian party of the Azerbaijani POW Roman Novruz oglu Guseinov to a third party, the "Trend" reports.