Under the Astrakhan Declaration, the Armenian President, as well as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, are to apply to the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities on order to exchange the POWs, Vahan Hovhannisyan, a Board member, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnakstutyun (ARF-D), told journalists Nov. 1.

According to him, its, at least, a mandatory requirement for the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. “The Astrakhan declaration is a really humanitarian one. It will produce a positive result only after they apply to the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities,” Hovhannisyan said. As regards the unfavorable wordings contained in the OSCE Minsk Group’s statements, he pointed out that if they co-chairs call Stepanakert Hankendi, they should also call Lachin Berdzor, and Kelbajar Karvachar. “The parity means parity principle,” he said.

As regards exchange of POWs, Hovhannisyan said that the shepherd murdered in Azerbaijan was a civilian, not a POW. “As to the ones who crossed the border on their own will, let them stay there – we do not have to demand their return. Now imagine, an Armenian POW is in Azerbaijan, and an Azeri one is in Armenia. The Azeri POW was many times raped in his military unit and forced into fleeing to Armenia. Should we hand this boy over to Azerbaijan? They will convict him for 20 years as a traitor. Would it be humane to hand over a young man who fled on his own will? Some people fled from Armenia, and it would be absurd to demand their return. If a fugitive, let us say goodbye to him,” Hovhannisyan said.