Azerbaijan has begun discussing with the Armenian side the issue of exchanging two Syrian citizens sentenced to life imprisonment in Armenia on charges of international terrorism and mercenarism for Armenian prisoners of war. This was stated by the head of the Center for International and Comparative Law, Siranush Sahakyan, in an interview with Azatutyun. According to the human rights defender, the release of a certain number of prisoners may be linked to the circumstances of releasing the two mercenaries.
Mercenaries and members of terrorist groups participated in armed attacks against the Armenian population from the territory of Azerbaijan. These were thousands of mercenaries transferred to Azerbaijan, according to the majority of sources, among whom were individuals connected to ISIS. According to recorded data, they were sent to Artsakh by Turkey after being recruited from Libya and the northern part of Syria. This is evidenced by the materials collected through the independent investigation of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia. The Ombudsman’s Office also reported that on November 11 the UN Working Group, on the use of mercenaries, issued a statement expressing concern over Azerbaijan’s use of mercenaries during the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and calling for their immediate withdrawal.
According to law enforcement authorities, mercenaries were offered remuneration of up to 2,000 dollars per month for participation in military operations. Public calls were made to spare no one’s life, to behead, to kill all Armenians; moreover, they were also promised a bounty of 100 dollars for each Armenian.
Is Armenia ready to hand over to Azerbaijan Syrians sentenced to life imprisonment in an Armenian prison for grave crimes, or to exchange them for Armenian prisoners?
In an interview with Azatutyun, Siranush Sahakyan emphasized that it is the Armenian side that should take advantage of the attention being shown toward the mercenaries convicted in 2021. According to the human rights defender, the Armenian government is considering the possibility of exchanging them for two or three Armenian prisoners of war, whereas negotiations should be conducted in a different direction. “I think the issue of releasing leaders should also be raised. Of course, in my assessment, it is unrealistic that at this stage Azerbaijan would be ready to release the leadership of Artsakh in exchange for anything. But even in the presence of such factors, Armenia should be able to bring back at least 15,” said Sahakyan.
Why did Syrian citizens suddenly become an object of interest for Baku? In Sahakyan’s view, the changes in power in Syria, as well as broader geopolitical shifts and the current warm relations between Turkey and Syria, play a major role here. According to the human rights defender, Syrian mercenaries have gained importance not only and not so much for Azerbaijan, but for partner structures and states as well, including Syria.
“In my opinion, Azerbaijan is beginning to take steps in this direction in order to satisfy the interests and needs of the mentioned subjects. That is, Azerbaijan is an intermediary player here. Being a party to the war, Azerbaijan is trying to create the expectation that it can bring the issue of the release of mercenaries onto the agenda of bilateral relations,” said Sahakyan.
Siranush Sahakyan also emphasizes another important issue: if Azerbaijan is showing such interest regarding war participants who are not citizens of its state, this in itself testifies to Baku’s involvement of mercenaries during the war, which is a violation of international law and a crime.