Reaching Deal On Return Of Captives - Peace Feasible Even Without Mediators

Considerable progress is being made towards the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Yerevan, which took special measures to arm itself a few months ago, is now taking serious steps to establish close relations with Azerbaijan.

Thus, as a result of negotiations between the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, in the spirit of loyalty to the principle of humanism, as a measure of mutual trust between the two countries, as a measure of goodwill, 32 people of Armenian origin were released by Azerbaijan, and 2 Azerbaijani servicemen were released by Armenia after agreement was reached between the parties.

It should be noted that 32 people who are supposed to be returned to Armenia have already served most of their sentences. Recall that 26 of them were arrested in December 2020 during anti-terrorist measures in the direction of Hadrut. The remaining 6 people were detained at the border at different times.

In addition, the public has started to be concerned about another question: can other separatist leaders be added to the list of captives?

The answer is clear. The list of 32 people does not and cannot include the leaders of the so-called regime, who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, Araik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan, Ruben Vardanyan, as well as Vagif Khachaturyan and Alyosha Khosrovyan.

Besides, this step is a clear example of the value that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the victorious Commander-in-Chief, Ilham Aliyev, attaches to the people of Azerbaijan, the country's citizens, the military, and shares the feelings of the relatives of the captives. President Ilham Aliyev once again proved that he is the President of every Azerbaijani.

This agreement, which was reached as a result of direct negotiations between the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, was not implemented through the mediation of any third country. This once again shows that Azerbaijan and Armenia can advance the peace process even without mediators.

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