News - Sargis Khandanyan: Captives’ return is matter of hours or days, will take place on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

I will avoid mentioning any names. First, I am not familiar with the details. Besides, it is a very sensitive topic, and I would advise the media as well not to circulate names until the captives cross the state border of Armenia because you understand how difficult this can be for the relatives of the captives. Sargis Khandanyan, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, told this to reporters in the NA Friday, referring to the joint statement issued Thursday evening by Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the returning of detainees. "I believe Armenia cannot say anything definite until the captives cross the border of Armenia, The return of the captives shall take place in the very near future; it's a matter of hours or days," he said, adding that the handover of the captives will take place at the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Khandanyan confirmed that Huseyin Akhundov, the Azerbaijani soldier who killed the custodian of the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine and was sentenced to life imprisonment in Armenia, also will be transferred to the Azerbaijani side as part of this exchange of detainees. As for the matter of returning all the captives, the Armenian MP said: "This was part of the process, and there is a certain result related to this process, and the Armenian government will continue to work both diplomatically and through legal diplomacy, so that all [Armenian] captives and other detainees who are in Azerbaijan also return as a result of a similar process." In accordance with the aforesaid joint statement by Armenia and Azerbaijan, the latter shall release 32 Armenian captives. And Armenia, in its turn, guided by the values of humanity and as a manifestation of goodwill, shall release two Azerbaijani servicemen.