Armenia’s acting Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan today received delegates led by Head of the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Armenia Thierry Ribaux.

As reported the Armenian Ministry of Defense, during the meeting, the parties touched upon the issues on finding out the fate of those who have been missing and are in captivity as a result of the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression that was unleashed against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) along the entire length of the line of contact in September 2020.

Harutyunyan said the Ministry of Defense is concerned about the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities still conceal the real number of prisoners of war and civilians and about their attempts to turn this exclusively humanitarian issue into a matter of political speculations. The acting defense minister also stated that this practice is a gross violation of the commitments that Azerbaijan assumed within the scope of the provisions stated in the trilateral statement signed by Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020.

He also expressed gratitude to the head of the ICRC Office in Yerevan for the efforts that the Delegation is making to protect the rights of Armenians who are under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan and stated that the Geneva Conventions guarantee protection of the rights of prisoners of war.

In his turn, Ribaux assured that the ICRC Delegation is taking all necessary actions to clarify information regarding the fate of missing persons, as well as information about the prisoners of war and civilians.